Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 11:5
I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:
See Acts 10:9-33.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
See this whole narration spoken to in the foregoing chapter.
It came even to me; to show that he was especially concerned in this vision, it being for his instruction and regulation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1-11. the apostles and brethren . .. in Judearather, “throughout Judea.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I was in the city of Joppa,…. And so it is called by Josephus w, and in the Apocrypha:
“And he pitched his tents against Joppa: but; they of Joppa shut him out of the city, because Apollonius had a garrison there.” (1 Maccabees 10:75)
“The men of Joppa also did such an ungodly deed: they prayed the Jews that dwelt among them to go with their wives and children into the boats which they had prepared, as though they had meant them no hurt.” (2 Maccabees 12:3)
here he was praying in an house of Simon the tanner, upon the top of it, and about the sixth hour of the day, or twelve o’clock at noon, which was one of the times of prayer with the Jews; [See comments on Ac 10:9],
and in a trance I saw a vision; with the eyes of his understanding; for the organs of his body were quite senseless and useless, which was as follows:
a certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet; a vessel which looked like a great sheet,
let down from heaven by four corners; to the earth, which four corners were knit, and perhaps were held and let down by angels, and in this visionary way were seen by Peter, though not expressed:
and it came even to me; descended upon the housetop where Peter was praying; and which was necessary, that he might see what was upon it, and receive instruction from it; and that it was very near him is evident from what is after said to him, when he was bid to arise, and kill and eat what was upon it; and therefore it could not be hanging in the air, but must be let down upon the very spot where he was.
w Antiqu. l. 9. c. 10. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Let down (). Here agreeing with the “sheet” (, feminine), not with “vessel” (, neuter) as in 10:11.
Even unto me ( ). Vivid detail added here by Peter.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “I was in the city of Joppa praying: (ego emen en polei loppa proseuchomenos) “I was in the city of Joppa engaged in prayer,” praying, Act 10:9-10.
2) “And in a trance I saw a vision,” (kai eidon en ekstasei horama) “And in an ecstasy (trance) I saw a vision,” as follows, Act 10:9-16.
3) “A certain vessel descend,” (katabainon skeuos ti) “A certain vessel (containment) coming down,” down before me, where I was praying, on the housetop of Simon the tanner, Act 10:9-10.
4) “As it had been a great sheet,” (hos othonen megalen) “Similar to a great sheet,” Act 10:11.
5) “Let down from heaven by four corners,” (tessarsin archais kathiemenen ek tou ouranou) “Let down by four corners out of or from heaven,” the throne area of heaven itself, Act 10:11.
6) “And it came even to me:” (kai elthen achri emou) “And it came up to me,” upon the rooftop of the house where I was praying in Joppa, Act 10:11. To Peter it came to prepare him for the special call of God to carry the gospel to the Gentiles in Caesarea, Gal 2:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5) It came even to me.The variations in the narrative are few and of little importance. There is, perhaps, a touch of the vividness of personal recollection in the description of the sheet as coming even to me, as compared with its being let down to the earth in Act. 10:11.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Act 11:5. I sawa certain vessel descend, &c. I sawsomewhat descending, in the form of a great sheet. See on ch. Act 10:11. It is generally supposed, that in this sheet all sorts of creatures, clean and unclean, were represented, promiscuously mixed together; but some expositors are of opinion, that they were only of the sorts prohibited by the law; because, say they, there would have been no room for St. Peter’s scrupling to eat, had he seen any creatures there but what he apprehended to be prohibited by the law: but his expression of nothing common or polluted and unclean, may lead us to conclude, that the apostle, according to the Jewish principles, conceived the clean animals to be polluted by their intermixture and communication with the unclean.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
5 I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:
Ver. 5.-15 See the notes on that part of the former chapter whereof this is but a repetition.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
5. ] . is a fresh detail.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
praying. Greek. proseuchomai. App-134.
trance. Greek. ekstasis. See Act 10:10.
saw. Greek. eidon. App-133.
vision = sight. Greek. horama. See note on Act 7:31.
certain. Greek. tis. App-123.
sheet. Greek. othone, as in Act 10:11.
let down = sent down, as in Act 10:11.
from = out of. Greek. ek. App-104.
heaven = the heaven. See Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.
even to = as far as to. Greek. achris.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
5.] . is a fresh detail.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
was: Act 10:9-18
in a: Act 22:17, 2Co 12:1-3
and it: Jer 1:11-14, Eze 2:9, Amo 7:4-7, Amo 8:2
Reciprocal: Act 12:9 – wist not Act 16:9 – a vision
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Act 11:5. I was in the city of Joppa praying. It was essential that Peter should name the place where this remarkable experience had occurred. Thus he names Csarea below (Act 11:11). He is laying before the apostles and brethren a precise statement of facts. On the other hand, it is of no moment to mention the name of his host at Joppa, or the precise position of the house of Simon the Tanner, though these things were of importance in the commission of the messengers sent by Cornelius from Csarea. And to turn to another point, St. Peter does not stay to tell his hearers on this occasion that he was on the house-top when he fell into the trance, that the hour was noon, and that the event occurred when the people in the house were preparing his food. But it was essential that he should mention the fact that he was engaged in prayer when this strange series of events began. This was his starting-point. His fellow-disciples knew, by the teaching of their Lord, and through their own daily experience, the place occupied by prayer in the Christian scheme. And St. Peters mode of presenting the subject to them is, in fact, a lesson for all time. If we begin with prayer, God will do all the rest.
In a trance I saw a vision. To them, so far from suggesting any difficulty, this would be persuasive. It was strictly according to all they had been taught in their knowledge of early Jewish history. In addressing Cornelius it would have been out of place, especially since all that was seen in the trance had a Hebrew colouring. The essential point for St. Peter (Act 10:28) to urge on the centurion was, that God had by some mode brought him to a new religious conviction.
Let down from heaven. This is more definite and vivid than that which we find in St. Lukes direct narration; and it is natural that this shade of difference should be found here, where the story is told by the eye-witness himself.
It came even to me. This, again, is an addition, which imparts much liveliness to the story as told by St. Peter himself. It is, moreover, an important addition, as showing that the circumstances of the trance were not vaguely apprehended, but that he saw everything definitely and distinctly.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes one verse 4