Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 10:45
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
44 48. The Holy Ghost is sent upon Cornelius and his friends, and they are baptized
45. they of the circumcision ] The six Jewish Christians mentioned in Act 11:12 as companions of St Peter.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they of the circumcision – Who had been Jews.
Were astonished – Were amazed that Gentiles should be admitted to the same favor as themselves.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 45. They of the circumcision – were astonished] Because it was a maxim with them that the Shechinah or Divine influence could not be revealed to any person who dwelt beyond the precincts of the promised land. Nor did any of them believe that the Divine Spirit could be communicated to any Gentile. It is no wonder, therefore, that they were amazed when they saw the Spirit of God so liberally given as it was on this occasion.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They of the circumcision; such as were not only themselves circumcised, but born of circumcised parents, who are thus called, Gal 2:12. These, not minding, or understanding, the many predictions of the calling of the Gentiles, thought that Christ was only promised unto the Jews; and were amazed to see now such an argument as might convince them to the contrary.
Poured out, speaks the abundant measure in which the Holy Ghost was given unto them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
45. they of the circumcision . . .were astonished . . . because that on the Gentiles also was pouredout, &c.without circumcision.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they of the circumcision which believed,…. Or “of the Jews that believed”, as the Ethiopic version renders it; the circumcised Jews who believed in Jesus Christ:
were astonished, as many as came with Peter; who were six brethren, as appears from Ac 11:12 these were amazed,
because that on the Gentiles also was poured out of the gift of the Holy Ghost; which they before thought was peculiar to the Jews; and this was according to their former notions, and the sentiments of the whole nation, that the Shekinah does not dwell without the land, and only in the land of Israel o; yea, they sometimes say, only upon the families in Israel, whose genealogies are clear p: the same they say of prophecy q, which is one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and was one of those which were now bestowed. They own, that before the giving of the law, the Holy Ghost was among the Gentiles, but from that time ceased to be among them r: hence even these believing Jews wonder at the pouring it forth upon them; which they needed not, had they known that the legal dispensation was now at an end, and the Gospel dispensation had taken place; in which it had been foretold the Spirit should be poured forth on the dry ground of the Gentiles.
o Zohar in Gen. fol. 118. 4. & in Exod. fol. 2. 3. & 70. 2. Maimon. Kiddush Hachodesh, c. 4. sect. 12. & Jarchi in Jonah i. 3. p T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 70. 2. q Zohar in Gen. fol. 128. 4. r Seder Olam Rabba, c. 21. p. 59.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They of the circumcision which believed ( ). The believing ones of the circumcision, more exactly.
Were amazed (). Second aorist active indicative, intransitive, of . They stood out of themselves.
On the Gentiles also ( ). Or, even upon the Gentiles.
Was poured out (). Present perfect passive retained in indirect discourse of or , old verb, used metaphorically of the Holy Spirit also in 2:17 (from Joe 2:28f.), Ac 2:33.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
They of the circumcision. From this point Luke distinguishes Christians into two classes – those of the circumcision and those of the uncircumcision; calling the former Jews, and the latter Gentiles or Greeks. Were amazed. See on ch. Act 2:7.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they of the circumcision,” (kai hoi ek peritomes) “And those out of or from the circumcision,” the Christian Jews who had accompanied Peter from the church at Joppa, Act 10:23. Here they are called certain brethren, as well as in Act 11:12.
2) “Which believed were astonished,” (eksestesan pistoi) “The faithful or believing ones were astonished or amazed, – Act 11:12.
3) “As many as came with Peter,” (hosoi sunelthan to Petro) “As many as (all those who) accompanied Peter,” from among the brethren in Joppa where Peter had raised Tabitha (Dorcas) from the dead, Act 9:34-43.
4) “Because that on the Gentiles also,” (hoti kai epi ta ethne) “Because also upon the ethnics, heathen, Gentiles, or races,” those racially different and direct from the Jews, former Divinely chosen custodial race for carrying on God’s worship and service under the Law, Heb 3:1-7.
5) “Was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost,” (he dorea tou hagiou pneumatas ekechutai) “The gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out,” as afore-prophesied by Joel, “upon all flesh,” Joe 2:28-29; Act 2:17; Act 11:15-18; Gal 3:14.
The Holy Ghost came upon the Gentiles this first time without the laying of hands, as He did to the Jews of the church on Pentecost, Act 2:4; Act 11:15-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
45. The faithful were astonished. He calleth them faithful who were as yet possessed with a wicked error. So the Lord doth not by and by wipe away all clouds of ignorance from his, and yet they do not darken the praise of faith before God, because he pardoneth errors and doth vouchsafe to favor it, as if it were pure and plain. And yet it is a wonder, that seeing they knew that Peter was sent of God, they would now be amazed, as at some strange and new thing, because God giveth the grace of his Spirit to those to whom he would have Christ now preached; but the sudden change is the cause of this, because, whereas God until that day had separated the Gentiles from his people as strangers and aliens, he doth now favor them both alike, and lifteth them up into the like degree of honor. Although we be also taught by this example, how hard a matter it is for us to wind out ourselves out of our errors once conceived, especially when they are of any continuance.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(45) And they of the circumcision which believed . . .St. Luke obviously dwells on this as a testimony, beyond suspicion, to the reality of the gift. Those who came with Peter were apparently not sharers at the time in the exultant joy which they were yet compelled to recognise as the Spirits work. They listened with amazement as they heard the rapturous chant burst from the lips of the as yet unbaptised heathens. Here, accordingly, was one definite fulfilment of Peters vision. Those who so spake had been, as it were, carried up into heaven, as the four-footed beasts and creeping things had been, and so a proof was given that no man might henceforth call them common or unclean. Peter himself had indeed learnt that lesson so fully (Act. 10:28) as not to need this special attestation, but for those who came with him this evidence was needed and was sufficient.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
45. They of the circumcision The Jews from Joppa with Peter.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they of the circumcision who were believers were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.’
We do well to pause as we consider this verse. Those who had come with Peter may have been expecting a number of things, and a number of them may have been reluctant to come, but what none of them had expected was that God would give His Holy Unique Spirit to Gentiles. Why, it made them as holy as the Jewish Christians. They had become indwelt by the Lord in the same way, and that even while they were uncircumcised. Note the stress on ‘those of the circumcision.’ That was clearly considered important here, and stresses that the others were uncircumcised. The ‘circumcised’ consisted of those who had accompanied Peter, and included Peter himself). They were also ‘believers’, but they were amazed that God should bless these Gentiles in the same way as He had blessed them, even though the Gentiles were uncircumcised. They really had no choice but to accept that God was treating them on an equal basis with the Jewish Christians.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 10:45-46. They of the circumcisionwere astonished, &c. The Jews had a proverb among them, that the Holy Spirit would not dwell upon any heathen, nor even upon any Jew in a prophetic or miraculous manner in a heathen country. The Jewish Christians, therefore, who camewith St. Peter from Joppa, to be eye-witnesses of this great event, were quite surprised to see that the divine gift of the Holy Spirit was poured down upon the Gentiles; for they presently found that this effusion produced like effects upon them, as it had done upon the Jewish converts; Cornelius and his companyimmediately exercising the gift of tongues, most probably in repeating and explaining some part of the Old Testament in the original language, and magnifying God, by singing psalms or hymns and spiritual songs, by immediate inspiratio
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 10:45-46 . . ] those who were believers from the circumcision, i.e. believers who belonged to the circumcised, the Jewish-Christians . Comp. Act 11:2 ; Rom 4:12 ; Gal 2:12 ; Col 4:11 ; Tit 1:10 . On in the concrete sense, comp. Rom 3:30 ; Rom 4:9 ; Rom 4:12 ; Rom 15:8 ; Gal 2:7 ; Phi 3:3 .
. . .] see Act 10:23 .
] Cornelius and his company now represented, in the view of those who were astonished, the Gentiles as a class of men generally; for the article signifies this. Observe also the perfect ; the completed fact lay before them.
] reason assigned ab effectu.
] (or ) is mentioned as something well known to the church, without the , by the characteristic addition of which the event recorded in chap. 2 is denoted as something singular and not identical with the mere , as it was there also markedly distinguished by means of the list of peoples. Now if, in the bare , this were to be understood in the same sense as in chap. 2. according to the representation of the narrator, then as Bleek’s conception, “to speak in glosses,” is decidedly to be rejected (see on chap. 2) no other meaning would result than: “to speak in languages,” i.e. to speak in foreign languages (different from their mother tongue), and therefore quite the same as . But against this we may decisively urge the very expression (with which agrees in the apocryphal passage, Mar 16:17 ) only added in chap. 2, and almost ostentatiously glorified as the chief matter, but not inserted at all elsewhere (here or at chap. 19 or 1 Corinthians 12-14). So much the more decidedly is here and in Act 19:6 not to be completed by mentally supplying (so Baur still, and others, following the traditional interpretation), but [263] to be explained: “ with tongues ,” and that in such a way that Luke himself has meant nothing else (not: “in languages”) than the to him well-known glossolalia of the apostolic church, which was here manifested in Cornelius and his company, but from which he has conceived and represented the event of Pentecost as something different and entirely extraordinary, although the latter also is, in its historical substance, to be considered as nothing else than the first speaking with tongues (see on chap. 2). Cornelius and his friends spoke with tongues , i.e. they spoke not in the exercise of reflective thought (of the , 1Co 14:9 ), not in intelligible, clear, and connected speech, but in enraptured eucharistic ecstasy, as by the involuntary exercise of their tongues, which were just organs of the Spirit . See the more particular exposition at 1Co 12:10 .
[263] Comp. also van Hengel, de gave d. talen , pp. 75 ff., 84 ff., who, however, here also (see on chap, 2.) abides by the view, that they spoke “ openly and aloud to the glorifying of God in Christ .”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Ver. 45. See Trapp on “ Act 10:23 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
45 .] We do not read that Peter himself was astonished. He had been specially prepared by the vision: they had not .
The here is identified with the . . of ch. Act 2:4 , by the assertion of ch. Act 11:15 , just cited; and this again with the of ch. Act 19:6 : so that the gift was one and the same throughout . On the whole subject, see note, ch. Act 2:4 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 10:45 . ., see Act 10:23 , cf. Rom 4:12 , and for the phrase as describing St. Paul’s most bitter and narrow opponents, see Gal 2:12 , Col 4:11 , Tit 1:10 . The fact was thus fully testified, even by those who were not in sympathy with it. : “nam uno admisso jam nulli clausa est janua” Bengel. Cf. Act 2:38 , a gift which they thought did not appertain to the Gentiles; see on Act 10:44 , and Schttgen, Hor. Heb., in loco .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
they, &c, i.e. the Jews. Compare Act 11:2. Rom 4:12; Rom 15:8. Gal 1:2, Gal 1:12. Col 4:11. Tit 1:10. These were Jewish Christians, called “brethren”, Act 10:23, Act 11:12.
believed = were faithful. Greek. pistos. App-150.
were astonished. Greek. existemi. See note on Act 2:7.
Gentiles. Greek. ethnos. Same as “nation”, verses: Act 10:22, Act 10:35.
gift. Greek. dorea. See note on Joh 4:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
45.] We do not read that Peter himself was astonished. He had been specially prepared by the vision: they had not.
The here is identified with the . . of ch. Act 2:4, by the assertion of ch. Act 11:15, just cited;-and this again with the of ch. Act 19:6 :-so that the gift was one and the same throughout. On the whole subject, see note, ch. Act 2:4.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 10:45. , on the nations) So one house is called, either because they hence inferred that the other Gentiles also were about to receive the Holy Spirit: for once that one was admitted, now henceforth the door is closed against none; and rightly from this instance they draw the conclusion as to all cases; ch. Act 11:18, Act 14:27 : or else because it was not convenient to use the term , Gentiles.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
they: Act 10:23, Act 11:3, Act 11:15-18, Gal 3:13, Gal 3:14
the Gentiles: Gal 2:15, Eph 2:11, Eph 3:5-8, Col 2:13, Col 2:14
Reciprocal: Isa 44:3 – pour my Isa 60:5 – thou shalt see Eze 47:3 – waters were to the ankles Zec 12:10 – I will pour Mat 8:11 – That Mat 10:5 – Go Mar 1:8 – he shall Act 1:5 – but Act 2:17 – I will Act 2:33 – he Act 2:38 – and ye Act 2:39 – and to all Act 8:20 – the gift Act 11:2 – they Act 11:12 – these Act 15:8 – giving Act 19:6 – the Holy Ghost Col 4:11 – who Tit 3:6 – he shed Heb 6:4 – and have
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Act 10:45. They of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter. The expression in the original is very strong. They were almost out of their mind with wonder. As to the persons whose wonder here forms so prominent a part of the scene, see Act 10:23 and Act 11:12.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Seen notes on verse 44
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 45
They of the circumcision; the Jews.–Were astonished. This offer of the gospel to a Roman centurion was a great event, and it constitutes a very important era in the history of Christianity. Now, for the first time, was that seemingly impassable barrier transcended, which, since the days of Abraham, had circumscribed the Jewish people, and had so effectually separated them, in regard to the truths and institutions of religion, from all the rest of mankind.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The outward evidence that God had given His Spirit to these Gentile believers as a gift was that they spoke in tongues and praised God (cf. Act 11:15-16). This amazed Peter’s Jewish companions because it proved that God was not making a distinction between Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus regarding His acceptance of them.