The Acts of the Apostles

62 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
of the Diaspora were chiefly settled in the cities.
Hence we read in viii. 40 of St. Philip : evrjyyeXil^eTo
Ta? TToXeig irdcrag (scil. of Philistia) ; again St. James
says (xv. SI) that Moses has KaToi ttoXiv ev raig
avvaywyah Tovg Krjpua-o-ovTag avrov, and St. Paul
admits (xxvi. 11) that he persecuted the Christians
not only in Jerusalem, but also followed them up
even eig Toig e^oo TroXeig ; St. Paul and Silas pass
through (xvi. 4) rag TroXeig and revisit (xv. 86) Kara
iroXiv irdcrav the communities that were founded on
the first journey; St. Paul declares that the Spirit
Kara iroXiv prophesied sufferings that were about to
come upon him (xx. 23), and to irXtjOog roov irepi^
TToXecov 'lepova-aXrjjtx crowded into the city (v. 16) to
be healed by the apostles. It is characteristic of the
exactness of the author that he often marks the fact
that something took place outside the city. Stephen
was stoned e^w rtjg iroXem -^ (vii. 58) ; the temple of
Zeus in Lystra was situated irpo rtjg iroXeog (xiv. 13)
St. Paul was dragged e^co rrjg TroXeo)? (xiv. 19) ; the
place of prayer in Philippi lies e^co r^? iruXtjg (xvi. 1 3)
and the brethren and sisters in Tyre accompany
St. Paul eo)? €^0) T?9 TToXew? (xxi. 5). Lastly, it is
a fine proof of the precision of the author that in
xiii. 50 he speaks of the nrpwroi r^? TroXeco? (in
Antioch of Pisidia), in xxv. 23 of those Kar €^oyr]v
T?? TTo'Xeo)? (in Caesarea of Palestine), and elsewhere of
the rulers of cities, but in the case of Philippi alone
does he call the magistrates of the city " a-rpartjyol "
(xvi. 20 ^), and in the case of Thessalonica alone
1 Among both Jews and Gentiles executions took place as a rule
outside the city, vide Heb. xiii. 12, 13.
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