Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Acts: Chapter 20]
a week to them.
20:7 {Upon the first day of the week} (\en de mi•i t•n
sabbat•n\). The cardinal \mi•i\ used here for the ordinal
\pr•t•i\ (Mr 16:9) like the Hebrew _ehadh_ as in Mr 16:2; Mt
28:1; Lu 24:1; Joh 20:1 and in harmony with the _Koin•_ idiom
(Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 671). Either the singular (Mr 16:9)
\sabbatou\ or the plural \sabbaton\ as here was used for the week
(sabbath to sabbath). For the first time here we have services
mentioned on the first day of the week though in 1Co 16:2 it is
implied by the collections stored on that day. In Re 1:10 the
Lord's day seems to be the day of the week on which Jesus rose
from the grave. Worship on the first day of the week instead of
the seventh naturally arose in Gentile churches, though Joh
20:26 seems to mean that from the very start the disciples began
to meet on the first (or eighth) day. But liberty was allowed as
Paul makes plain in Ro 14:5f. {When we were gathered together}
(\sun•gmen•n h•m•n\). Genitive absolute, perfect passive
participle of \sunag•\, to gather together, a formal meeting of
the disciples. See this verb used for gatherings of disciples in
Ac 4:31; 11:26; 14:27; 15:6,30; 19:7,8; 1Co 5:4. In Heb 10:25
the substantive \episunag•g•n\ is used for the regular gatherings
which some were already neglecting. It is impossible for a church
to flourish without regular meetings even if they have to meet in
the catacombs as became necessary in Rome. In Russia today the
Soviets are trying to break up conventicles of Baptists. They
probably met on our Saturday evening, the beginning of the first
day at sunset. So these Christians began the day (Sunday) with
worship. But, since this is a Gentile community, it is quite
possible that Luke means our Sunday evening as the time when this
meeting occurs, and the language in Joh 20:19 "it being evening
on that day the first day of the week" naturally means the
evening following the day, not the evening preceding the day. {To
break bread} (\klasai arton\). First aorist active infinitive of
purpose of \kla•\. The language naturally bears the same meaning
as in 2:42, the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper which usually
followed the \Agap•\. See 1Co 10:16. The time came, when the
\Agap•\ was no longer observed, perhaps because of the abuses
noted in 1Co 11:20ff. Rackham argues that the absence of the
article with bread here and its presence (\ton arton\) in verse
11 shows that the \Agap•\ is ] referred to in verse 7 and the
Eucharist in verse 11, but not necessarily so because \ton
arton\ may merely refer to \arton\ in verse 7. At any rate it
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