Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Acts: Chapter 9]
anelein auton\). Demonstrative \hoi\ with \de\ and the conative
imperfect of \epicheire•\, to put the hand to, to try, an old
verb used in the N.T. only three times (Lu 1:1; Ac 9:29; 19:3).
They offer to Saul the same conclusive answer that he gave to
Stephen, death. Paul tells how the Lord Jesus appeared to him at
this juncture in a vision in the temple (Ac 22:17-21) with the
distinct command to leave Jerusalem and how Paul protested that
he was willing to meet the fate of Stephen in whose death he had
a shameful part. That is to Saul's credit, but the Lord did not
want Saul to be put to death yet. His crown of martyrdom will
come later.
9:30 {Knew it} (\epignontes\). Second aorist active participle of
\epigin•sk•\, to know fully. The disciples saw it clearly, so
they {conducted} (\kat•gagon\, effective second aorist active
indicative of \katag•\). {Sent forth} (\exapesteilan\). Double
compound (\ex\, out, \apo\, away or off). Sent him out and off
{to Tarsus} (\eis Tarson\). Silence is preserved by Luke. But it
takes little imagination to picture the scene at home when this
brilliant young rabbi, the pride of Gamaliel, returns home a
preacher of the despised Jesus of Nazareth whose disciples he had
so relentlessly persecuted. What will father, mother, sister
think of him now?
9:31 {So the church} (\H• men oun ekkl•sia\). The singular
\ekkl•sia\ is undoubtedly the true reading here (all the great
documents have it so). By this time there were churches scattered
over Judea, Galilee, and Samaria (Ga 1:22), but Luke either
regards the disciples in Palestine as still members of the one
great church in Jerusalem (instance already the work of Philip in
Samaria and soon of Peter in Joppa and Caesarea) or he employs
the term \ekkl•sia\ in a geographical or collective sense
covering all of Palestine. The strictly local sense we have seen
already in 8:1,3 (and Mt 18:17) and the general spiritual
sense in Mt 16:18. But in Ac 8:3 it is plain that the term is
applied to the organization of Jerusalem Christians even when
scattered in their homes. The use of \men oun\ (so) is Luke's
common way of gathering up the connection. The obvious meaning is
that the persecution ceased because the persecutor had been
converted. The wolf no longer ravined the sheep. It is true also
that the effort of Caligula A.D. 39 to set up his image in the
temple in Jerusalem for the Jews to worship greatly excited the
Jews and gave them troubles of their own (Josephus, _Ant_. XVIII.
http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/AC9.RWP.html (13 of 17) [28/08/2004 09:06:38 a.m.]