Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 10:10
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
10. he fell into a trance ] So that the vision was seen by him only mentally, when he was rapt out of the body, and beheld all things as a man in a dream.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he became very hungry – Prom the connection, where it is said that they were making ready, that is, preparing a meal, it would seem that this was the customary hour of dining. The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, however, had but two meals, and the first was usually taken about ten or eleven oclock. This meal usually consisted of fruit, milk, cheese, etc. Their principal meal was about six or seven in the afternoon, at which time they observed their feasts. See Jahns Bible. Archaeol. section 145.
He fell into a trance – Greek: an ecstasy, ekstasis, fell upon him. In Act 11:5, Peter says that in a trance he saw a vision. The word trance, or ecstasy, denotes a state of mind when the attention is absorbed in a particular train of thought, so that the external senses are partially or entirely suspended. It is a high species of abstraction from external objects, when the mind becomes forgetful of surrounding things, and is fixed solely on its own thoughts, so that appeals to the external senses do not readily rouse it. The soul seems to have passed out of the body, and to be conversant only with spiritual essences. Thus, Balaam is said to have seen the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance Num 24:4, Num 24:16; thus Paul, in praying in the temple, fell into a trance Act 22:17; and perhaps a similar state is described in 2Co 12:2. This effect seems to be caused by so intense and absorbing a train of thought as to overcome the senses of the body, or wholly to withdraw the mind from their influence, and to fix it on the unseen object that engrosses it. It is often a high state of reverie, or absence of mind, which Dr. Rush describes as induced by the stimulus of ideas of absent subjects, being so powerful as to destroy the perception of present objects (Diseases of the Mind, p. 310, ed. Philadelphia, 1812). In the case of Peter, however, there was a supernatural influence that drew his attention away from present objects.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 10. He became very hungry] It seems that this happened about dinner-time; for it appears that they were making ready, , dressing the victuals for the family. The dinner among the ancients was a very slight meal; and they had no breakfast: their supper was their principal meal. And, in very ancient times, they ate only once in the day. Supper was the meal at which they saw their friends, the business of the day being then finished.
He fell into a trance] , An ecstasy fell upon him. A person may be said to be in an ecstasy when transported with joy or admiration, so that he is insensible to every object but that on which he is engaged. Peter’s ecstasy is easily accounted for: he went up to the house-top to pray: at first he felt keen hunger; but, being earnestly engaged with God, all natural appetites became absorbed in the intense application of his soul to his Maker. While every passion and appetite was under this Divine influence, and the soul, without let or hinderance, freely conversing with God, then the visionary and symbolical representation mentioned here took place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He became very hungry; he might be more than ordinarily hungry, to fit or suit the vision, which is hereafter mentioned.
He fell into a trance: the most excellent way of Gods manifesting himself unto man, is by a trance; (and they reckon seven ways, in which God makes himself known unto man); but what this trance was is diversly expressed: it is certain. that in it the soul was, as it were. absent from the body, drawn off from the perception of earthly and sensible things, and enabled unto the perception of heavenly mysteries: in such an ecstasy was St. Paul, 2Co 12:2, and St. John, Rev 1:10, who is therefore said to be in the Spirit.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. a trancediffering fromthe “vision” of Cornelius, in so far as the things seen hadnot the same objective reality, though both were supernatural.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he became very hungry,…. It being in the middle of the day, when it was usual to eat; and perhaps he had ate nothing that day, for those were reckoned the most religious persons, who eat nothing before the Minchah:
and would have eaten; though the Jews say e, a man ought not to eat near the Minchah, not even the least, lest he should continue at it, and so neglect his prayers:
but while they made ready, while Simon’s family were getting dinner ready, preparing the food for it:
he fell into a trance; or an ecstasy, or an ecstasy fell upon him; it was what was supernatural, and came from above, and did not arise from any natural cause in him; he was as it were out of the body, and entirely in the spirit; all the bodily organs and senses were shut up, and all sensible objects removed from him; and he was wholly intent on what was proposed to him in the vision, which filled him with wonder and astonishment.
e Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Sabbat. ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Hungry () Only instance of the word known, a . Probably “very hungry” (=besides, in addition).
Desired (). Imperfect active. Was longing to eat. It was about twelve o’clock noon and Peter may even have smelt the savory dishes, “while they made ready” (). “The natural and the supernatural border closely on one another, with no definable limits” (Furneaux).
He fell into a trance ( ‘ ). More exactly, “An ecstasy came upon him,” in which trance he passed out of himself (, from ) and from which one came to himself (12:11). Cf. also Acts 11:5; Acts 22:17. It is thus different from a vision () as in verse 3.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Very hungry [] . Only here in New Testament.
Would have eaten [ ] . Rev., correctly, desired to eat. Geuesqai is rendered both to eat and to taste, more frequently the latter. See Mt 27:34; Joh 2:9; 1Pe 2:3; and compare Act 20:11. He fell into a trance [ ] . Lit., an ecstasy fell upon him. The best texts, however, read ejgeneto, came upon him, or happened to him. See on astonishment, Mr 5:42. Luke alone employs the word in this sense of ecstasy or trance.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he became very hungry,” (egeneto de prospeinos) “Then he became very hungry,” very hungry, because it was noon mealtime.
2) “And would have eaten,” (kai ethelen geusasthai) “And wished very much to eat,” to satisfy his hunger, to break his prayer and temporary fast. Peter was praying while waiting for his ordinary noon meal.
3) “But while they made ready,” (paraskeuazonton de auton) “But while they where he lodged prepared to eat,” while the meal was being prepared where he was lodging or boarding, at Simon the tanner’s house or inn, by the seaside, Act 10:5-6.
4) “He fell into a trance,” (egeneto ep’ auton ekstasis) “There came upon him an ecstasy,” or upon him a trance, a state of emotional rapture from what he saw and heard from the Lord, similar to John’s experience on the island of Patmos, Rev 1:10; Act 11:5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
10. Excess of mind. Because our minds are wholly, as it were, set upon the earth, to the end Peter might the better comprehend the oracle, it was meet that his mind should be, as it were, moved from his place and carried up; and by this means was he prepared to receive the oracle, when as he is carried up above the world after an unwonted manner.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10) He fell into a trance.St. Luke characteristically uses, as in Act. 11:5; Act. 22:17, the technical term ekstasis (whence our English ecstasy) for the state which thus supervened. It is obvious that it might in part be the natural consequence of the protracted fast, and the intense prayer, possibly also of exposure under such conditions to the noontide sun. The state was one in which the normal action of the senses was suspended, like that of Balaam in Num. 24:4, or that which St. Paul describes in 2Co. 12:3, whether in the body or out of the body he cannot tell, and, as such, it was, in this instance, made the channel for a revelation of the Divine Will conveyed in symbols which were adapted to the conditions out of which it rose.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Trance Ecstasy. The Greek , derived from , out of, and , standing or position. Mentally it designated the mind or soul out of its ordinary status in the body. This the word expressed in very different degrees. First, any ordinary excitement by which the mind was out of its ordinary state, as by surprise, Mar 5:42; Luk 5:26; or terror, Mar 16:8. Second, a withdrawal of the soul from the use of its outer senses to a condition in which its own conceptions appeared realities. Those conceptions might be framed by the soul itself, as in reveries and dreams; or they might be shaped to the soul by some other mind, as in revelations and in imparted visions. So this trance of Peter was dictated to his conception from a divine source; but not so the appearance of the angel to Cornelius, nor that of Jesus to Saul; for these are not called trance, the appearing object being not a mere conception, but an independent reality. Third, some have held that the soul may entirely leave the body, inanimate like a corpse, and depart to distant regions and deal with external objects. We know no such instance in Scripture except at death, as of Dives, or that of Paul, (2Co 12:2-4,) who certainly thought it in his own case a possibility. Pliny, the philosopher, however, narrates the case of one whose soul left his body, and in its absence his body was burned by his enemies! Augustine (“De Civitate Dei”) relates the case of a presbyter named Restitutus, whose body could be so abandoned by his soul.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he became hungry, and desired to eat. But while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and he sees the heaven opened, and a certain container descending, as it were like a great sheet, let down by four corners on the earth, in which were all manner of fourfooted beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the heaven.’
And feeling hungry he called for something to eat. This hunger may have been the result of the time he spent in prayer, and may therefore point to how long he had been praying. But while the meal was being prepared he fell into a trance, and saw what would appear to him as a nightmare. He saw a great sheet being let down from heaven filled with ‘unclean’ things. This included fourfooted beasts, such as pigs, conies and camels (it was a vision), together with different kinds of birds and many creeping things (all of which, apart from locusts, would be unclean). There may have been clean animals among them (opinion is divided), but as a good Jew he must have been horrified, and would probably shudder. His heart would draw back in repulsion.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 10:10. Would have eaten “Would have taken a little refreshment” seems the proper import of the word . The word , rendered trance, properly signifies such a rapture of mind, as gives the person who falls into it a look of astonishment, and renders him insensible to external objects; while, in the mean time, his whole soul is agitated in an extraordinary manner, with some striking scenes which pass before it and take up all the attention.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
Ver. 10. He fell into a trance ] His soul was sundered, as it were, for a season, from his body, while he talked with God. So our Saviour was transfigured as he was praying. John was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, when he received his revelation; Paul was rapped up into the third heaven. Giles of Bruxelles (a Dutch martyr), in his prayers was so ardent, kneeling by himself in some secret place, while he was a prisoner, that he seemed to forget himself. Being called many times to eat, he neither heard nor saw those that stood by him, till he was lifted up by the arms, and then gently he would speak unto them, as one awakened out of a sweet sleep.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
10. . ] see reff. is more likely to have been a correction of as applying better to the people of the house, than the converse.
] The distinction of this appearance from the above (though the usage is not always strictly observed) is, that in this case that which was seen was a revelation shewn to the eye of the beholder when rapt into a supernatural state, having, as is the case in a dream, no objective reality : whereas, in the other case, the thing seen actually happened , and was beheld by the person as an ordinary spectator, in the possession of his natural senses.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 10:10 . : only here, not found in LXX or classical Greek, probably intensive force in , see Grimm-Thayer, sub v. , although not in R.V. : there is no mention of any long period of previous fasting, as if that would account for the vision; Peter was about to partake of his ordinary meal. , see critical notes. : represented in such a way as to distinguish it from the of Cornelius in Act 10:3 ; a trance, an ecstasy in which a person passes out of himself, always in connection with “visions,” in what may be called its technical use; sometimes it is used as expressing simple astonishment, cf. Act 3:10 , etc.; for a good account of the word and its various significations in N.T. and LXX, see Kennedy, Sources of N. T. Greek , pp. 121, 122; on the distinction between . and . see Alford, note, in loco .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
very hungry. Greek. prospeinos. Only here.
would have eaten = wished (Greek. ethelo. App-102.) to eat.
eaten. Greek. geuomai, to taste (food understood). Always trans, “taste”, except in Acts, here, Act 20:11; Act 23:14.
he fell, &c. Literally a trance (Greek. ekstasis) fell upon him. The texts read “came upon him”. Ekstasis is sometimes translated “amazement”, as in Act 3:10. It is akin to existemi (Act 2:7; Act 8:9, &c). This was not an objective vision, as in the ease of Cornelius.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
10. .] see reff. is more likely to have been a correction of as applying better to the people of the house, than the converse.
] The distinction of this appearance from the above (though the usage is not always strictly observed) is, that in this case that which was seen was a revelation shewn to the eye of the beholder when rapt into a supernatural state, having, as is the case in a dream, no objective reality: whereas, in the other case, the thing seen actually happened, and was beheld by the person as an ordinary spectator, in the possession of his natural senses.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 10:10. , he became) immediately after prayer.-, hungry) at the regular time of meals: however in somewhat of an extraordinary manner. The tokens of apparitions accord with the state of the natural faculties.-, to taste [to partake of food]) A verb expressing temperance.-, whilst they were making ready) viz. those persons whose business it was to make ready. Even when the natural faculties are not quiescent, still the Divine operation can predominate.-, a state of mental transport, a trance) Prayer makes the mind adapted for receiving a revelation; and the trance fortifies a man against his own spirit.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
he became: Mat 4:2, Mat 12:1-3, Mat 21:18
he fell: Act 22:17, Num 24:4, Num 24:16, Eze 8:1-3, Eze 11:24, Eze 40:2, 2Co 12:2-4, Rev 1:10, Rev 4:2, Rev 4:3
Reciprocal: Gen 15:1 – in Lev 11:8 – they are unclean 1Ki 17:21 – stretched himself Act 10:13 – Rise Act 16:9 – a vision
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Act 10:10. And he became very hungry. The vision presented to him in the trance was adapted to the physical condition in which he was at the moment.
Would have eaten. The Greek word is , and it is worth while to observe that the words in modern Greek for breakfast and for the midday meal are and .
In St. Peters apologetic statement at Jerusalem (Act 11:5) he says nothing of the hour of the day, of the house-top, or of the preparation for his meal. These were circumstantial details, which were of no special moment then. His business then was to state the manner of these Divine revelations to him, which he did minutely. These circumstantial details, however, are of high importance in the direct narrative. They add to its life and reality, and they constitute part of the process through which Peter was brought to his new state of mind. It is to be observed, on the other hand, that St. Peter did very expressly state at Jerusalem that he was engaged in prayer when he fell into the trance. To the apostles and elders this would be an argument of the utmost force. For, with all their prejudices, they knew that prayer was the appointed path towards Divine enlightenment, and the appointed help for the discharge of duty.
He fell into a trance. Literally, an ecstasy () came upon him. The true reading is , not . His own words at Jerusalem are, In an ecstasy I saw a vision. This preternatural state of mind in which Peter saw the allegorical vision is to be contrasted with the full retention of his natural faculties with which Cornelius saw the angel (see note above on Act 10:3). Chrysostom says of Peters trance or rapture that the soul, so to speak, was withdrawn from the body (see 2Co 12:1-3).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 9
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
10:10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a {f} trance,
(f) For though Peter does not stand amazed as one that is tongue tied, but talks with God and is instructed in his mysteries, yet his mind was far from being as it normally was; shortly, however, it returned to its normal state.