Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 9:40
But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning [him] to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
40. But Peter put them all forth ] As Christ had done (Mat 9:25) at the raising of Jairus’ daughter, on which occasion Peter had been present.
and kneeled down, and prayed ] Asking God that the consolation to be given to these mourners might be the restoration of the dead woman to life.
and turning him to the body ] When by the Spirit’s admonition he knew that his prayer was heard.
said, Tabitha, arise ] If he spake in the Aramaic dialect, as is most probable, his utterance must have been nearly the same as that of our Lord (Mar 5:41), Talitha cumi, at the raising of the daughter of Jairus. But when both these utterances are interpreted in the places where they occur, it is astonishing to find those who would suggest that the Tabitha of this verse is an adaptation of the Talitha of the Gospel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But Peter put them all forth – From the room. See a similar case in Mat 9:25. Why this was done is not said. Perhaps it was because he did not wish to appear as if seeking publicity. If done in the presence of many persons, it might seem like ostentation. Others suppose it was that he might offer more fervent prayer to God than he would be willing they should witness Compare 2Ki 4:33.
Tabitha, arise – Compare Mar 5:41-42.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 40. Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down and prayed] It was not even known to Peter that God would work this miracle: therefore he put all the people out, that he might seek the will of God by fervent prayer, and during his supplications be liable neither to distraction nor interruption, which he must have experienced had he permitted this company of weeping widows to remain in the chamber.
And turning – to the body] , The lifeless body, for the spirit had already departed.
Said, Tabitha, arose.] During his wrestling with God, he had, undoubtedly, received confidence that she would be raised at his word.
And when she saw Peter, she sat up.] As Dorcas was a woman so eminently holy, her happy soul had doubtless gone to the paradise of God. Must she not therefore be filled with regret to find herself thus called back to earth again? And must not the remembrance of the glories she had now lost fill her with dislike to all the goods of earth? No: for,
1. As a saint of God, her Maker’s will must be hers; because she knew that this will must be ever best.
2. It is very likely that, in the case of the revivescence of saint or sinner, God mercifully draws a veil over all they have seen or known, so that they have no recollection of what they have either seen or heard. Even St. Paul found it impossible to tell what he had heard in the third heaven, though he was probably not in the state of the dead. Of the economy of the invisible world God will reveal nothing. We walk here by faith, and not by sight.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Peter put them all forth; Peter put them out, that he might pray the more earnestly, without distraction or interruption; thus Elisha shut the door to him when he prayed for the Shunammites son, 2Ki 4:33.
Kneeled down; this his kneeling is mentioned, to recommend reverence in our praying unto God.
And prayed: Peter, by his betaking himself unto prayer, would show, that he could do nothing by his own power, but it must come from above; and he had every mercy as much precariously, and by prayer, as any others.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
40-43. Peter put them all forth, andkneeled downthe one in imitation of his Master’s way (Lu8:54; and compare 2Ki 4:33);the other, in striking contrast with it. The kneeling becamethe lowly servant, but not the Lord Himself, of whom it is neveronce recorded that he knelt in the performance of a miracle.
opened her eyes, and when shesaw Peter, she sat upThe graphic minuteness of detail hereimparts to the narrative an air of charming reality.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But Peter put them all forth,…. As he had seen his Lord and Master do, when he raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, Lu 8:54
and kneeled down and prayed; it may be, as yet, he had not the mind of God in this matter, and therefore betook himself to prayer, in which he chose to be private and alone:
and turning him to the body; the corpse of Dorcas, after he had prayed, and was well assured that the power of Christ would be exerted in raising of it:
said, Tabitha, arise; which words were spoken in the name and faith of Christ, and were all one as, if Christ himself had spoken them; for to his power, and not to the apostles, is the following miracle to be ascribed: and she opened her eyes; which, upon her death, had been closed by her friends; and perhaps the napkin was not yet bound about her face: or if it was, she must remove it ere she could open her eyes and see Peter:
and when she saw Peter; whom she might know:
she sat up; upon the bed or bier on which she lay.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Put them all forth ( ). Second aorist (effective) active participle of , a rather strong word, perhaps with some difficulty. Cf. Mr 5:40 which incident Peter may have recalled. The words are not genuine in Lu 8:54. Peter’s praying alone reminds one of Elijah (1Ki 17:20) and the widow’s son and Elisha for the Shunammite’s son (2Ki 4:33).
Tabitha, arise (, ). With sublime faith like of Jesus in Mr 5:41.
She sat up (). Effective aorist active indicative of . Often in medical writers, only here in the N.T. and Lu 7:15 where Westcott and Hort have in the margin the uncompounded form . Vivid picture.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “But Peter put them all forth,” (de ekbalon ekso pantas ho Petros) “Then Peter put them all outside the upper room,” where they had been talking and weeping, that his prayer might not be interrupted, Mat 9:25; as Elisha did, 2Ki 4:32-33.
2) “And kneeled down and prayed;(kai theis ta gonata proseuksato) “And kneeled down and prayed,” Mat 6:6; Luk 8:50-55; 2Ki 4:32-37.
3) “And turning him to the body said,” (kai epistrepsas pros to onoma eipen) “And turning toward the body (of Dorcas) he said,” spoke to her with Divine sanction as Elijah had done, 1Ki 17:17-24.
4) “Tabitha, arise,” (Tabitha anastethi) “Tabitha, stand up,” Act 9:36; She couldn’t hear; She couldn’t move; She couldn’t obey, but she did, even as Lazarus heard and obeyed the voice of Jesus, Joh 11:43-44.
5) “And she opened her eyes: (he de henoiksen tous ophthalmous autes) “And then she opened her eyes,” from the blindness of death and what had occurred to her, Ecc 9:5-6.
6) “And when she saw Peter she sat up,” (kai idousaton Petron anekahesen) “And seeing Peter (right before her) she sat up,” as one awakened out of sleep, calmly, without violent emotions, for she had been “at rest” with the Lord, 2Co 5:8-9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
40. When they were all put forth. When as he taketh a time to pray, he seemeth as yet to doubt what will be the end. When he healed AEneas he brake out into these words, without making any stop, AEneas, Jesus Christ make thee whole. But as the operation of the Spirit is not always alike and the same, it may be that though he knew the power of God, yet he went forward unto the miracle by degrees. Yet it seemeth to be an absurd thing, that he putteth all the saints out of the chamber, for whom it had been better to have seen it with their eyes. But because the Lord had not as yet revealed the time when, and the manner how, he would show forth his power, he desired to be alone, that he might the more fitly pray. Also it might be, that he knew some other reason which moved him to do this, which we know not. It is recorded in the Sacred History, (1Kg 17:23,) that Elias did the same. For he being alone, and not so much as the mother of the child with him, doth stretch himself thrice upon the dead corpse. For the Spirit of God hath his vehement motions, which, if any man will square out according to the common use of men, or measure by the sense of the flesh, he shall do wickedly and unjustly. We must this think, when as Peter, as it were doubting, seeketh a by place, he preventeth superstition, lest any man should ascribe to his power the work of God, whereof he was only a minister, For he which withdrew himself from company, and did pray so instantly, did plainly confess that the matter was not in his own hand. Therefore, when Peter wisheth to know what pleaseth the Lord, he confesseth that he alone was the author of the work. Kneeling in time of prayer is a token of humility, which hath a double profit, that all our members may be applied unto the worship of God, and that the external exercise of the body may help the weakness of the mind; but we must take heed so often as we kneel down, that the inward submission of the heart be answerable to the ceremony, that it be not vain and false. (640)
Turning towards the corpse. This seemeth also to be contrary to reason, that he speaketh unto a corpse without feeling; but this speaking unto the dead corpse was one point of the vehemency whereunto the Spirit of God enforced Peter. And if any man desire a reason, this form of speech doth more lively express the power of God in raising the dead, than if it should be said in the third person, let this body receive life again and live. Therefore, when as Ezekiel doth shadow the deliverance of the people under a figure of the resurrection:
“
O dead bones,” (saith he,) “hear the word of the Lord,” (Eze 37:4.)
And Christ saith,
“
The time shall come when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,” (Joh 5:25.)
For this was indeed the voice of Christ, which was uttered by the mouth of Peter, and gave [back] breath to the body of Tabitha. The circumstances following serve to confirm the certainty of the miracle.
(640) “ Ne fallax sit ac lusoria,” that it be not elusory and fallacious.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(40) Peter put them all forth.We may, perhaps, trace in Peters action his recollection of what our Lord had done in the case of the daughter of Jairus (see Notes on Mat. 9:23-24), at which he had been present. The work was one not to be accomplished by the mere utterance of a name, nor as by his own power or holiness (Act. 3:12), but by the power of the prayer of faith, and this called for the silence and solitude of communion with God. Even the very words which were uttered, if he spoke in Aramaic, must have been, with the change of a single letter, the same as the Talitha cumi of Mar. 5:41. The utterance of the words implied the internal assurance that the prayer had been answered.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.’
Reminiscent of Jesus dealings with Jairus’ daughter Peter put everyone from the room. As far as we know he had never tried to raise the dead before. And then he kneeled and prayed, and turning to the body said, “Tabitha, arise”. The parallels with the healing of Jairus’ daughter are such as to give us confidence that this incident has brought that one to Luke’s mind (Luk 8:51-56), and yet the differences are potent too. Jesus had not needed to kneel and pray (although He did it at other times). This is not just a carbon copy of that. Jesus had had authority over death. Peter was a suppliant.
‘She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.’ All the symbolism of what happened here must not take away from us the wonder that has been performed. Like his Master Peter raises the dead. Death has no mastery in the presence of one who comes in the name of Christ. ‘She opened her eyes.’ All knew that when some one died it was necessary to close their eyes. Only Christ could open them. And that was why he had come to open men’s eyes in a deeper sense (Act 26:18).
Interestingly ‘Tabitha kumi’ (the Aramaic for ‘Tabitha arise’) is little different from the ‘Talitha kumi’ of Jesus with Jairus’ daughter, but as Luke does not draw the similarity out he would not expect his Gentile readers to realise it. On the other hand they would note the similarity between ‘Maid arise’ and ‘Tabitha arise’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 9:40. But Peter put them all forth, Herein the servant followed not only the path, but the very steps of his Lord, in dismissing all witnesses, that nothing might look like vain-glory, that nothing might interrupt the fervour of that address which he was to pour out before God. First, he bends his knees in prayer to the Lord of life; and knowing certainly by a divine impulse that his prayer was heard, he directs his voice with a divine efficacy to the dead: but who can fully conceive the surprize of Dorcas when thus called back again to life, or of her pious friends when they saw her alive! for their own sake, and the sake of the indigent and distressed, there was cause of rejoicing, and much more in the view of such a confirmation given to the gospel, and such a token of Christ’s presence with his servants. Yet to herself it must have been matter of resignation and submission, rather than exultation, that she was called back to these scenes of vanity, which surely would have been scarce tolerable, had not a veil of oblivion been drawn over those glories which her separate spirit had enjoyed. But we please ourselves with the charitable and reasonable hope, that the remainder of her days were yet more zealously and vigorously spent in the service of her Saviour and her God; yielding herself to him as in a double sense alive from the dead. Thus would a richer treasure be laid up for her in heaven, and she would afterwards return to a far more exceeding weight of glory, than that from which so astonishing a Providence had for a short interval recalled her.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 9:40-43 . The putting out (comp. Mat 9:25 ; Mar 5:40 ; Luk 8:54 ) of all present took place in order to preserve the earnestness of the prayer and its result from every disturbing influence.
] the dead body . See on Luk 17:37 . On , comp. Luk 7:15 .
The explanation of the fact as an awakening from apparent death (see particularly Eck, Versuch d. Wundergesch. d. N. T. aus natrl. Urs. z. erklren , p. 248 ff.) is exegetically at decided variance with Act 9:37 , but is also to be rejected historically , as the revival of the actually dead Tabitha has its historical precedents in the raisings of the dead by Jesus. [253] Ewald’s view also amounts ultimately to an apparent death (p. 245), placing the revival at that boundary-line, “where there may scarcely be still the last spark of life in a man.” Baur, in accordance with his foregone conclusions, denies all historical character to the miracles at Lydda and Joppa, holding that they are narratives of evangelical miracles transferred to Peter (comp. also Zeller, p. 177 f.); and that the very name is probably derived simply from the , Mar 5:40 , for properly (?) denotes nothing but maiden.
] and in particular.
Act 9:42 . ] direction of the faith, as in Act 9:17 , Act 16:31 , Act 22:19 ; Rom 4:24 .
Act 9:43 . ] although the trade of a tanner , on account of its being occupied with dead animals, was esteemed unclean (Wetstein and Schoettgen); which Peter now disregarded.
The word (in Artemidorus and others) has also passed into the language of the Talmud ( ). The more classical term is , Plat. Conv. p. 221 E; Aristoph. Plut. 166.
[253] Hence it is just as unnecessary as it is arbitrary to assume, with Lange, apost. Zeitalt. II. p. 129, that Tabitha had for a considerable time stood in spiritual rapport with Peter, and that this was the vehicle of the reviving agency.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
40 But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.
Ver. 40. Put them all forth ] That he might pray with more privacy and freedom. For he knew well that the prayer of faith could not heal the sick only, as Aeneas,Act 9:34Act 9:34 , but raise the dead too, Heb 11:35 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
40. ] After the example of his divine Master, see ref. Mark.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 9:40 . : nothing could be more natural than this action of St. Peter as a reminiscence of his Master’s action, when He was about to perform a similar miracle, cf. Mat 9:25 , Mar 5:40 ( cf. 2Ki 4:33 , and 2Ki 4:4-5 in same chapter), but in Luk 8:54 it is noteworthy that the similar words are omitted by W.H [234] and the revisers, see above. In St. Matthew the multitude is put out, but in St. Mark (and St. Luke), whilst all are described as put out (the same verb), Peter, James and John, with the parents, are allowed to be present at the miracle. Weiss points out the reminiscence of Mar 5:40 , but this we might expect if St. Mark’s Gospel comes to us through St. Peter. St. Chrysostom marks the action of St. Peter as showing how entirely free he was from any attempt at display. , see note on Act 7:60 , “hoc Dominus ipse non fecerat” Blass. St. Peter had been present on each of the three occasions recorded in the Gospels when his Master had raised the dead, but he does not venture at once to speak the word of power, but like Elijah or Elisha kneels down in prayer (see Rendall’s note). . , cf. Mar 5:41 . Here again we note the close agreement with St. Mark’s narrative the words to the damsel are not given at all by Mat 9:25 , and by St. Luke in Greek, Luk 8:54 , not in Aramaic as by Mark. On the absurdity of identifying the here with the of Mar 5:41 see Nsgen and Zckler, in loco . It may suffice to note with Lumby that in each case an interpretation of the word used is given. : not found in LXX, and used only by St. Luke in this passage and in his Gospel, Act 7:15 (but [235] has , which W.H [236] reads only in margin), in both cases of a person restored to life and sitting up. In this intransitive sense it is almost entirely confined to medical writers, to describe patients sitting up in bed. It occurs in Plato, Phdo , 60 B, but in the middle voice, and with the words expressed: in Xen., Cvr. , v., 7, it is also used, but in a different sense (to sit down again), cf. Hobart, pp. 11, 40, 41, who also notices that the circumstantial details of the gradual recovery of Tabitha are quite in the style of medical description. , Luk 17:37 , the word is quite classical for a dead body, so too in LXX, cf. Deu 21:23 , 1Ki 13:24 , 1Ma 11:4 , 2Ma 9:29 . Everything, as Wendt admits (1888), points to the fact that no apparent death, or a raising by natural means, is thought of by the narrator. Holtzmann and Pfleiderer can only find a parallel here with Act 20:9-12 , but none can read the two narratives without seeing their independence, except in the main fact that both narrate a similar miracle. .: to this there is nothing corresponding in the details given by the Gospel narratives, as Blass points out.
[234] Westcott and Hort’s The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.
[235] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[236] Westcott and Hort’s The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
forth = outside. Greek. exo. Compare Mar 5:40.
kneeled down. Same expression as in Act 7:60.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
40. ] After the example of his divine Master, see ref. Mark.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 9:40. , having put out) Solitude was in all respects suited to the ardour of his prayer and the greatness of the miracle: and the astonished admiration and faith on the part of all afterwards was the greater on that account.-) she sat up: Luk 7:15, He that was dead sat up (the young man at Nain).
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
put: Mar 5:40, Mar 9:25, Luk 8:54
and kneeled: Act 7:60, Act 20:36, Act 21:5
and prayed: 1Ki 17:19-23, 2Ki 4:32-36, Mat 9:25
she opened: Mar 5:41, Mar 5:42, Joh 11:43, Joh 11:44
Reciprocal: 1Ki 17:21 – O Lord my God 2Ki 4:4 – thou shalt shut 2Ki 4:33 – prayed 2Ki 4:35 – and the child opened 2Ki 20:11 – cried unto Pro 31:13 – worketh Dan 6:10 – he kneeled Mat 6:6 – enter Mat 9:24 – Give Mar 5:37 – he suffered Mar 7:34 – Be opened Mar 9:29 – by prayer Mar 16:18 – they shall lay Luk 5:24 – I say Luk 7:14 – Young Luk 8:51 – he suffered Joh 14:12 – the Act 2:43 – many Act 4:30 – and that Act 5:12 – by Act 28:8 – prayed Eph 3:14 – I Jam 5:14 – pray
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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Act 9:40. We are not told why Peter wished to be alone while performing this miracle, but it was not the first time such a thing was done. (See 1Ki 17:19-23; 2Ki 4:32-36; Mat 9:25.) Life was restored to the woman at the voice of Peter, and she opened her eyes only upon hearing it. She had enough physical strength to sit up, but was evidently somewhat weak from her recent illness.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 9:40. But Peter put them all forth, following the example of Christ (Mar 5:40), to avoid anything like a crowd of curious spectators in the hushed and solemn death-chamber, at the moment when the soul should return to the body. Elisha, when he raised to life the Shunammites son (2Ki 4:33), did the same thing.
Kneeled down, and prayed. So Elijah, when he raised the dead son of the widow of Zarephath, cried unto the Lord, and Elisha, in the case of the Shunammites son, prayed unto the Lord. Jesus, without any preceding prayer, restored to life the son of the widow of Nain and the little daughter of Jairus. In the case of the raising of Lazarus, His action was still more remarkable; then He thanked the Father beforehand for His power over life and death, so confident was Jesus that, though He had laid aside His robe of glory, He still possessed the keys of death and the grave.
Less than ten years had passed since the Resurrection of Jesus (the scene just related, which happened at Joppa, took place A.D. 40, 41), and already one of the great changes Christianity was to work in the world, had been effected in the rapidly-growing company of believers. A new life had been pointed out to and quietly adopted by the women of the new society. From the first days which succeeded that glad Pentecost morning when the Holy Spirit fell on the twelve, we have noticed (see the short Excursus B. at the end of chap. 5) the holy influence which the sisters in Christ quietly exercised in the Jerusalem Church. Now at Joppa, the relation of the circumstances which led to the great miracle of Peter, casually tells us that another advance in the position of women as fellow-workers for Jesus, had silently been brought about.
At Joppa, a devoted disciple named Dorcas had apparently organized a band of helpers,widows, perhaps desolate, friendless, homeless ones,who assisted her in her works of charity and self-denying love. What was taking place at Joppa in the year 40, no doubt was taking place in Jerusalem, and in many another centre where the religion of Jesus had gathered together a congregation of believers. In this little band of faithful women gathered together in Joppa by Dorcas, we see the germ of that more elaborately-constituted body of female workers at Ephesus alluded to twenty-five years later by St. Paul (1Ti 5:9). It is, indeed, a specially interesting episode this visit of Peter to Joppa, for it is the first and earliest mention of the noble work left by the Redeemer to be done by Christian women. It is the first recital of those splendid services of theirs in the holy cause of charity, the record of which will be found to fill so many of the brightest pages of the book of God when it is opened and read before the great white throne.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 36
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
40. We find here, and uniformly throughout the Scriptures, Peter, in harmony with the saints of all ages, kneeling in prayer. The Bible is our only guide. God help us to stick close to it. It is shocking to witness the stiff, formal worship of popular churches, not even the preacher kneeling. As Satan is doing his best to snow under the holiness movement, it is truly alarming now to frequently see people claiming sanctification sitting up during prayers. It is a withering burlesque on the profession. Good Lord, help us to remember that profession and possession are different words. Brother Godbey, do you believe that persons are ever raised from the dead nowadays? That the days of miracles are past is one of Satans buncombe lies palmed off on a backslidden church. Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the age (Mat 28:20). We are living in the age in which Jesus delivered this affirmation. Hence we still have with us the miracle-worker. In this case, the interment had not taken place. History authenticates not a few parallels even down to the present day. About thirty years ago a very godly young lady, by the name of Marietta Davis, died in Elmira, New York. The family was divinely impressed to retain the corpse and postpone interment till nine days had elapsed, when, to the surprise of the city, she revived, convalesced and wrote a book describing her visit to heaven during the nine days of her absence from the body. I have read the book. I remember well seeing in the introductory the name of the pastor of the Baptist Church of which she was a member, also the name of her physician, and the sworn affidavits of both, who testified under one oath of affirmation administered by a magistrate, whose name was also given, all certifying to the above stated facts. Our Savior has all power over disease and even death. I doubt not but many cases have occurred in which the human spirit has evacuated the body, as in the event of Pauls martyrdom at Lystra, when he spent an hour in heaven and returned to reanimate his body.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Peter’s procedure here was almost identical to Jesus’ when He raised Jairus’ daughter (Mar 5:41; Luk 8:51-56). Peter’s praying shows that he was relying on Jesus for his power just as his saying, "Jesus Christ heals you," manifested that attitude when he healed Aeneas (Act 9:34). There is only one letter difference in what Peter said (Tabitha qumi) and what Jesus had said (Talitha qumi, lit. "Little girl, get up"). This miracle is another evidence of Jesus’ working powerfully through His witnesses in word and deed (Act 1:1-2; cf. Joh 14:12). Tannehill pointed out many similarities between this story and the stories of Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus raising dead people. [Note: Tannehill, 2:126-27.] Jesus had given the Twelve the power to raise the dead (Mat 10:8).