사도행전 16:27 주석

It is some rebuke to Barnabas that after he left Paul we hear no more of him, of what he did or suffered for Christ. But Paul, as he was recommended by the brethren to the grace of God, so his services for Christ after this are largely recorded; we are to attend him in this chapter from place to place, wherever he came doing good, either watering or planting, beginning new work or improving what was done. Here is, I. The beginning of his acquaintance with Timothy, and taking him to be his assistant (Act 16:1-3). II. The visit he made to the churches for their establishment (Act 16:4, Act 16:5). III. His call to Macedonia (after a restraint he had been under from going to some other places), and his coming to Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia, with his entertainment there (Act 16:6-13). IV. The conversion of Lydia there (Act 16:14, Act 16:15). V. The casing of an evil spirit out of a damsel (Act 16:16-18). VI. The accusing and abusing of Paul and Silas for it, their imprisonment, and the indignities done them (Act 16:19-24). VII. The miraculous conversion of the jailer to the faith of Christ (Act 16:25-34). VIII. The honourable discharge of Paul and Silas by the magistrates (Act 16:35-40).

Then came he to Derbe and Lystra,.... Which were cities of Lycaonia, Act 14:6 after Paul had gone through Syria and Cilicia; in the last of these places, he had been stoned, and yet goes thither again; none of these things moved him from the preaching of the Gospel, and from the care of the churches, such zeal, courage, and intrepidity was he possessed of: and behold a certain disciple was there: a converted person, a believer in Christ, one that had learned to know and deny himself, and understood the way of salvation by Christ, and was a follower of him; whether the apostle was an instrument of his conversion, when he was before in these parts, is not certain, though probable, since he often calls him his son; nor is it so evident whether he was at Derbe or at Lystra, though the latter seems most likely, since a report was given of him by the brethren there, and at Iconium, when no mention is made of Derbe, in the following verse: named Timotheus; or Timothy, the same person to whom afterwards the apostle wrote two epistles: it is a name much used among the Greeks, and his father was a Greek; one of this name, who was an historian among the Greeks, is frequently mentioned by Laertius (r); and there was another of this name, the son of Conon, an Athenian general (s); and another that was a captain or general of Antiochus, "Afterward he passed over to the children of Ammon, where he found a mighty power, and much people, with Timotheus their captain.'' (1 Maccabees 5:6) "Now Timotheus, whom the Jews had overcome before, when he had gathered a great multitude of foreign forces, and horses out of Asia not a few, came as though he would take Jewry by force of arms.'' (2 Maccabees 10:24) the name signifies one that honoured God, or was honoured by God; both were true in this disciple of Christ: the son of a certain woman which was a Jewess, and believed; his mother was a Jewish woman, but a believer in Christ, her name was Eunice, Ti2 1:5 but his father was a Greek; a Gentile, an uncircumcised one, and so he seems to have remained, by his sons not being circumcised. (r) De Vit. Philosoph. l. 3. in Vit. Platon. & l. 4. Vit. Speusippi, & l. 5. Vit. Aristotel. (s) Aelian. Hist. Var. l. 2. c. 10, 18. & l. 3. c. 16, 47.

And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep,.... Not so much by the loud voices of Paul and Silas, as by the uncommon motion of the earth, which so shook him, as thoroughly to awake him: and seeing the prison doors open; which was the first thing in his fright he was looking after, and careful of, and which he might perceive, though it was midnight, and though as yet he had no light: he drew out his sword; from its scabbard, which was girt about him; for it may be he had slept with his clothes on, and his sword girt to him; or if he had put on his clothes upon awaking, he had also girt himself with his sword: and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled; especially Paul and Silas, concerning whom he had received such a strict charge from the magistrates; and he knew that according to law, he must suffer the same punishment that was designed for them; and therefore in fear of the magistrates, and what they would inflict upon him, he was just going to destroy himself.

And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. The keeper was not an evil-disposed man that he thrust them into the inner prison, was because of his having received such a command, not of himself. The man was all in a tumult of perturbation.

"The jailer, becoming wise." This is Stephanus, whom Paul mentions in his First Letter to the Corinthians. (1 Cor. 1:16)

Paul, coming to Derbe and Lystra, meets with Timothy, the son of a Jewess by a Greek father, whom he circumcises and takes with him into his work, Act 16:1-3. As they pass through the different cities, they deliver the apostles' decrees to the Churches; and they are established in the faith, and daily increase in numbers, Act 16:4, Act 16:5. They travel through Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, and to Troas, Act 16:6-8. Where Paul has a vision, relative to his preaching in Macedonia, Act 16:9, Act 16:10. Leaving Troas, he sails to Samothracia and Neapolis, and comes to Philippi in Macedonia, Act 16:11, Act 16:12. Lydia, a seller of purple, receives the apostles teaching; and she and her family are baptized, Act 16:13-16. A young woman, with a spirit of divination, dispossessed by St. Paul, Act 16:16-18. Her masters, finding their gain by her soothsaying gone, make an attack upon Paul and Silas, drag them before the magistrates, who command them to be beaten, thrust into the closest prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks, Act 16:19-24. Paul and Silas singing praises at midnight, the prison doors are miraculously opened, and all the bonds of the prisoners loosed, Act 16:25, Act 16:26. The keeper being alarmed, supposing that the prisoners were fled, is about to kill himself, but is prevented by Paul, Act 16:27-28. He inquires the way of salvation, believes, and he and his whole family are baptized, Act 16:29-34. The next morning the magistrates order the apostles to be dismissed, Act 16:35, Act 16:36. Paul pleads his privilege as a Roman, and accuses the magistrates of injustice, who, being alarmed, come themselves to the prison, deliver them, and beg them to depart from the city, Act 16:37-39. They leave the prison, enter into the house of Lydia, comfort the brethren, and depart, Act 16:40.

The keeper of the prison - would have killed himself - Every jailor was made responsible for his prisoner, under the same penalty to which the prisoner himself was exposed. The jailor, awaking, and finding the prison-doors open, taking it for granted that all the prisoners had made their escape, and that he must lose his life on the account, chose rather to die by his own hand than by that of others. For it was customary among the heathens, when they found death inevitable, to take away their own lives. This custom was applauded by their philosophers, and sanctioned by some of their greatest men.

Then came he to Derbe and Lystra; and, behold, a certain disciple was there--that is, at Lystra (not Derbe, as some conclude from Act 20:4). named Timotheus--(See on Act 14:20). As Paul styles him "his own son in the faith" (Ti1 1:2), he must have been gained to Christ at the apostle's first visit; and as Paul says he "had fully known his persecutions which came on him at Lystra" (Ti2 3:10-11), he may have been in that group of disciples that surrounded the apparently lifeless body of the apostle outside the walls of Lystra, and that at a time of life when the mind receives its deepest impressions from the spectacle of innocent suffering and undaunted courage [HOWSON]. His would be one of "the souls of the disciples confirmed" at the apostle's second visit, "exhorted to continue in the faith, and" warned "that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Act 14:21-22). the son of a certain . . . Jewess--"The unfeigned faith which dwelt first in his grandmother Lois" descended to "his mother Eunice," and thence it passed to this youth (Ti2 1:5), who "from a child knew the Holy Scriptures" (Ti2 3:15). His gifts and destination to the ministry of Christ had already been attested (Ti1 1:18; Ti1 4:14); and though some ten years after this Paul speaks of him as still young (Ti1 4:12), "he was already well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium" (Act 16:2), and consequently must have been well known through all that quarter. but his father was a Greek--Such mixed marriages, though little practiced, and disliked by the stricter Jews in Palestine, must have been very frequent among the Jews of the dispersion, especially in remote districts, where but few of the scattered people were settled [HOWSON].

the keeper . . . awaking . . . drew . . . his sword, and would have killed himself, &c.--knowing that his life was forfeited in that case (Act 12:19; and compare Act 27:42).