Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 9:37
And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid [her] in an upper chamber.
37. that she was [ fell ] sick, and died ] The proceedings which followed on her death are evidence of its reality. The probable reason for deferring the burial was the knowledge that Peter was close at hand, and the hope of the disciples that the power of Jesus might be exercised through him for the restoration to life of so eminent a disciple as Dorcas.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Whom, when they had washed – Among most people it has been customary to wash the body before it is buried or burned. They prepared her in the usual manner for interment.
In an upper chamber – See the notes on Act 1:13. There is no evidence that they expected that Peter would raise her up to life.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 37. She was sick, and died] Even her holiness and usefulness could not prevent her from sickness and death. Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return, is a decree that must be fulfilled, even on the saints; for the body is dead, sentenced to death, because of sin, though the spirit be life because of righteousness.
Whom when they had washed] Having the fullest proof that she was dead, they prepared for her interment. In most nations of the world it was customary to wash their dead before they buried them, and before they laid them out to lie in state, as Homer tells us was the case with the body of Patroclus: –
, ,
,
–
, ‘ __
Iliad xviii. 343.
“So saying, he bade his train surround with fire
A tripod huge, that they might quickly cleanse
Patroclus from all stains of clotted gore.
They on the blazing hearth a tripod placed,
Infused the water, thrust dry wood beneath,
And soon the flames, encompassing around
Its ample belly, warm’d the flood within.
Soon as the water in the singing brass
Simmer’d, they bathed him, and with limpid oil
Anointed.
They stretch’d him on his bed, then cover’d him
From head to feet with linen texture light,
And with a wide unsullied mantle last.”
COWPER.
The waking or watching of the dead was also practised among the ancient Greeks, as we learn from a preceding paragraph, where Achilles, addressing his dead friend Patroclus, tells him:-
,
Il. xviii. 338.
“Mean time, among
My lofty galleys thou shalt lie, with tears
Mourn’d day and night, by Trojan captives fair
And Dardan, compassing thy bier around.”
COWPER.
A similar description is given by Virgil of the funeral obsequies of Misenus, AEneid vi. ver. 212.
Nec minus interea Misenum in littore Teucri
Flebant, et cineri ingrato suprema ferebant.
* * * * * * *
Pars calidos latices et aena undantia flammis
Expediunt, corpusque lavant frigentis et ungunt
Fit gemitus: tum membra toro defleta reponunt,
Purpureasque super vestes, velamina nota,
Conjiciunt, c.
“Meanwhile, the Trojan troops, with weeping eyes,
To dead Misenus pay his obsequies.
First from the ground a lofty pile they rear
Of pitch-trees, oaks, and pines, and unctuous fir:
The fabric’s front with cypress twigs they strew
And stick the sides with boughs of baleful yew;
The topmost part his glitt’ring arms adorn:
Warm waters then, in brazen cauldrons borne,
Are pour’d to wash his body, joint by joint;
And fragrant oils the stiffen’d limbs anoint.
With groans and cries Misenus they deplore.
Then on a bier with purple cover’d o’er
The breathless body, thus bewail’d, they lay.”
DRYDEN.
These rites, in many respects, resemble those still used among the native Irish. See the account of the funeral ceremonies of the Egyptians, in the notes, See Clarke on Ge 50:2. The primitive Christians washed the bodies of their dead not only out of decency and affectionate respect to them, but as a token of their firm belief in the resurrection of the dead.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They washed the dead, and anointed them, to fit them for their burying, and especially to show their hope of the resurrection; which some think St. Paul alludes unto, 1Co 15:29.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
37. when they had washedaccordingto the custom of civilized nations towards the dead.
in anrather, “the”
upper chamber(compare1Ki 17:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass in those days,…. While Peter was in those parts, and particularly at Lydda, which was near:
that she was sick and died; fell ill with some disorder, and died of it:
whom, when they had washed; as was the manner of the Jews; and this they did, even though it was on a sabbath day: for so their canon runs f,
“they do all the necessaries for the dead (on the sabbath), they anoint him, , “and they wash him”;”
yet that of Maimonides deserves some notice g;
“it is forbidden to anoint part of the body, as the whole body; but if it is to remove filth, it is lawful; and so it is forbidden to wash part of the body with hot water, but with cold water they may wash his face, his hands, and his feet, but not the whole body.”
This custom still continues, and their usual method is to wash the body with hot water, in which they put dried roses and camomile flowers: likewise, they take an egg, and beat it up in wine, and therewith anoint the head; and this washing and anointing are done by some at the house before the corpse is carried out (as here); but in some places, especially where there is a large number of Jews, all this is done in the burying places; where they have a little house, whither they carry the corpse, and put it on a table, and there wash it; and after washing, put, it into a coffin, and inter it h: and this has been the custom of other nations, if not of all nations: the custom with the Turks is this i; the body being laid upon a board, and covered with a linen cloth, one of the ecclesiastical elders washes it with hot water and soap, another being present to hand the water; but they do not suffer others to look on: the body is thrice washed; and the third time they mingle camphire with it; and being washed, it is put into a coffin. And Ludolphus k reports of the Abyssines, that their bodies being well washed and perfumed, they wrap them up in garments, and then are put upon a bier, and buried. And this was the practice both of the ancient Grecians and Romans, that as soon as ever anyone was dead, the body was immediately washed and anointed. Thus Creon is said to fetch Jocaste to wash her dead son; and Antigone requests of Creon, that she might wash her brother l. It has been the custom of some countries to wash their dead bodies in rivers: and some people, in the northern parts, have chose, for this reason, to have their burying places near the banks of rivers, that their dead bodies might be washed in running water: and the Indians, which live at a distance from the river Ganges, will go fifteen or twenty days journey thither, to wash their corpse in it, though then putrefied, and then burn them; yea, they take their sick alive when they think they will die, and put them up to their middle in rivers, that they may die in pure and clear water; and they enjoin a very severe penance on those who omit to bring such as are near death, to a river to be washed m:
they laid her in an upper chamber. The Ethiopic version reads quite the reverse; “they put her in the lower part of the house”: which is not likely. Dr. Lightfoot conjectures that this upper chamber might be the common meeting place of the saints; and that they put her here, that if Peter should work a miracle all might be spectators of it; and certain it is, that the Jewish doctors used to meet in upper rooms, and confer together; [See comments on Mr 2:4], and such there were in Lydda; [See comments on Ac 1:13] and such there were in Lydda; Ac 9:32.
f Misn. Sabbat, c. 23. sect. 5. g Hilch. Ebel, c. 5. sect. 4. h Buxtorf. Synagog. Jud. c. 49. p. 699, 700. Leo Modena’s History of the Rites, &c. of the Jews, par. 5. c. 8. i Bobovius de Visitat. Aegrot. p. 18. Georgievitz de Turc. Moribus, p. 36. k Hist. Ethiop. l. 3. c. 6. l Vid. Kirchmannum de Funeribus Roman. l. 1. c. 7. m Sperling de Baptismo Ethnicorum, c. 4. p. 26, 27.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In an upper chamber ( ). See on 1:13. Also in verse 39. In that house. This service was rendered by the women, though Luke has (masculine plural aorist active participle of ), a general way of saying “they washed.” The interment was not hurried as in Jerusalem (Ananias and Sapphira) and the upper room is where the body was usually placed.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Upper chamber. See on ch. Act 1:13.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And it came to pass in those days,” (egeneto de en tais hemerais ekeinais) “Then it occurred in those days,” the days when she was yet active in doing good deeds and giving much alms, as a “doer of the word,” Jas 1:22.
2) “That she was sick, and died:” (esthenesasan auten apothanein) “That being ill she came to die,” or she became sick and died, Heb 9:27; Ecc 9:5. “For as in Adam all die,” 1Co 15:22. Death is a common denominator of all, a transit to further existence in heaven or hell, Luk 16:19; Luk 16:31; 2Co 5:8.
3) “Whom when they had washed,” (lousantes de) “Then having washed her,” after h eath, a common Jewish custom of washing, cleaning the body from outward defilement before burial, an expression of care and affection for the deceased, often accompanied by using pleasant smelling spices in wrapping the body for burial as well, Joh 19:38-40.
4) “They laid her in an upper chamber,” (ethekan en huperoo) “They placed or laid her (out) in an upper room,” away from the milling, meandering masses that might come to be among the curious in such an hour. She was placed there for delay to await the arrival of Peter, Act 9:39. In Jerusalem by Jewish law bodies of the dead were not permitted to be left over night, lest the holy city be defiled, but outside the city they were kept often for three days of mourning before being buried, Act 5:6; Act 5:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
37. It happened that she was sick. He saith in plain words that she was sick, that he may the more plainly express her death which followed. To the same end he saith that the corpse was washed and laid in an upper chamber; therefore, these circumstances serve to make the miracle to be believed. Whereas they carry her not straightway to the grave, but lay her in the upper part of the house, that they may keep her there, we may thereby gather that they had some hope of recovering her life. It is likely that the rite of washing, whereof Luke maketh mention, was most ancient; and I do not doubt but that it came from the holy fathers by continual course of times, as if it had been delivered from hand to hand, that in death itself some visible and of the resurrection might comfort the minds of the godly, and lift them up unto some good hope; to wit, seeing the manifestation of eternal life was not so evident, yea, seeing that Christ, the pledge and substance of eternal life, was not as yet revealed, it was requisite that both the obscurity of doctrine, and also the absence of Christ, should be supplied by such helps. Therefore they washed the bodies of the dead, that they might once (635) stand before the judgment-seat of God, being clean. (636) Finally, there was the same reason for washing the dead which was for the living; the daily washing put them in mind of this, that no man can please God save he who should be purged from his filthiness. So, in the rite of burying, God would have some sign extant whereby men might be admonished that they went polluted out of this life by reason of that filthiness which they had gathered in the world. Washing did no more help those which were dead than burial, but it was used to teach the living; (637) for because death hath some show of destruction, lest it should extinguish the faith of the resurrection, it was requisite that contrary shows should be set against it, that they might represent life in death. The Gentiles also took to themselves this ceremony, for which cause Ennius saith, A good woman did wash and anoint Tarquinius’s corpse. But (their) imitation was but apish (638) in this thing, as in all other ceremonies. And Christians also have taken to themselves this example unadvisedly, as if the observation of a figure used under the law ought to continue always; for at the beginning of the gospel, although the necessity were abolished, yet the use was lawful, until such time as it might grow out of use in tract of time. But the monks do at this day no less imitate Judaism than did the Gentiles in times past, without choice and judgment, for they wash corpses, that they may bury Christ in shadows, which, being buried with him in his grave, ought never to have been used any more.
(635) “ Ut pura aliquando ad Dei tribunal sisterentur,” that they might one day stand pure at the judgmentseat of God.
(636) “ Quotidianae ablutiones,” their daily ablutions.
(637) “ Superstites,” survivors.
(638) “ Praepostera,” preposterous.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(37) They laid her in an upper chamber.This implies some little delay in the usual rapidity of Eastern funerals. As Lydda was only nine miles from Joppa, the report of neass recovery might well have travelled from the one city to the other, and led to the hope that the power which St. Peter had thus put forth might extend even to the farther work of raising from the dead.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And it came about in those days, that she fell sick, and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber.’
But Tabitha fell sick, and died. They did all they could for her. They washed her, and laid her in the upper room, in the guest chamber. We note here that although ‘signs and wonders’ were feature of the early church, they could not be performed by just any group of Christians. The church in Joppa had been unable to prevent her from dying. But they were not satisfied with is. They wanted to see her come alive again.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 9:37. Whom when they had washed, This custom prevailed both among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins, and is still in use among us. See Mar 14:8. Joh 12:7; Joh 19:38-40.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 9:37-38 . Concerning the general ancient custom of washing the dead , see Dougtaei Anal. II. p. 77 ff., and Wetstein; also Hermann, Privatalterth . 39. 5.
] The article (which Lachmann and Bornemann have, after A C E) was not necessary, as it was well known that there was only one upper room (Act 1:13 ) in the house, and thus no mistake could occur. Nor is anything known as to its having usually served as the chamber for the dead; perhaps the room for privacy and prayer was chosen in this particular instance, because they from the very first thought to obtain the presence and agency of Peter.
. . .] Comp. Num 22:16 . “Fides non tollit civilitatem verborum,” Bengel. On the classical (only here in the N. T.), see Ruhnk. ad Tim. p. 190; Jacobs, ad Anthol. III. p. 894. Thou mayest not hesitate to come to us. On ., comp. Luk 2:15 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
37 And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.
Ver. 37. When they had washed ] This they did to show their hope of a joyful resurrection. The heathens also, though their lives and hopes ended together, yet they washed their dead in an apish imitation of this Church custom. Faciunt et vespae faves; simlae imitantur homines.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
37. ] No art., as in the expressions , ‘on deck,’ &c., which usually occur after prepositions, cf. Middl. ch. vi. 1.
See 1Ki 17:19 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 9:37 . . : on the frequency of the formula in Luke see above p. 124, and Plummer, St. Luke , p. 45, on the use of . : aorist, marking the time when she fell sick (Weiss). : after the manner of the Jews as well as of the Greeks, cf. instances in Wetstein and Hamburger, Real-Encyclopdie des Judentums , i., 2, 162, “Beerdigung” Outside Jerusalem three days might elapse between the death and burial, but in Jerusalem no corpse lay over night, see Hamburger, u. s. , p. 161; in the case of Ananias and Sapphira we may note the accuracy of this distinction. : burial did not take place until the danger of an apparent death was considered past; in uncertain cases a delay as above might be allowed, or for other special reasons, and children were forbidden to hasten the burial of their parents, Hamburger, u. s. , p. 161; and further for burial and mourning customs, Edersheim, Jewish Social Life , p. 168, and History of the Jewish Nation , p. 311. : the body was usually laid in an upper chamber when burial was delayed; see Hackett’s note and also on Act 9:39 , and Alford on the article.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
was sick = fell sick. Greek. astheneo. Frequent in the Gospels. In Acts, here, Act 19:12; Act 20:35.
washed = bathed. Greek. louo. App-136.
upper chamber = upper room. See note on Act 1:13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
37. ] No art., as in the expressions , on deck, &c., which usually occur after prepositions, cf. Middl. ch. vi. 1.
See 1Ki 17:19.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
she was: Joh 11:3, Joh 11:4, Joh 11:36, Joh 11:37
in an: Act 1:13, Act 20:8, Mar 14:15
Reciprocal: 1Ki 17:19 – into a loft Isa 38:1 – was Hezekiah Joh 11:1 – was sick Phi 2:27 – nigh
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7
Act 9:37. Thayer defines the original for upper chamber, “The highest part of the house, the upper rooms or story where the women resided.” Here is where they laid Dorcas after preparing her body for burial.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 9:37. Whom when they had washed. Maimonides, quoted by Gloag, says: It is the custom in Israel, about the dead and their burial, that when any one is dead, they shut his eyes and wash his body. The practice of washing the dead was common among the Greeks and the Romans (see Virgil, neid, vi. 219). Wordsworth calls attention to this account of the dead Dorcas, being the third instance in this book of reference to the decencies of Christian burial. St. Chrysostom, he goes on to say, contrasts the quietness of this laying out of Dorcas with the great lamentation over Stephen (chap. Act 8:2). Death, the followers of Jesus had now learnt to regard with greater calmness and joy. See St. Pauls reproof of immoderate grief for the dead in his earliest Epistle (1Th 4:13-18).
They laid in an upper chamber, where the body of the holy dead might rest quietly till Peter came. The message of Act 9:38, desiring him that he would not delay to come to them, tells us that the disciples of Joppa hoped much from Peter; they certainly had some dim expectation that the great wonder-working friend of Christ would, like Elijah or Elisha among their fathers, or that far greater One than Elijah or Elisha, whom some of them perhaps had seen, be able to restore to them their loved saint who had been setting so fair and bright an example to the Church at Joppa.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 36
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
37. . . .and washing her they placed her in an upper chamber. Pursuant to the beautiful symbolism of the Jewish dispensation, they invariably washed a corpse with great care before depositing it in the sepulcher, thus typifying the complete purification of the soul in order to its admission into paradise. On Peters arrival the saints and widows gather around him, showing him the shirts and cloaks, such as Dorcas was accustomed to make while with them. Oriental costume at the present day is very simple with the common people, consisting of only two garments, i. e., the interior, which is constantly worn, and the exterior, frequently carried on the arm, to be worn when needed and used as a bed for lodging. These were the garments in whose manufacture Dorcas excelled. While the common people in the Old World dress in a cheap and simple style, such as we seldom see in this country, the nobility and royalists go to excess in quantity and quality far beyond anything observable among Occidentals.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
When she died, the believers sent to Peter asking him to come. Apparently they expected him to raise her back to life as Jesus had done since they did not bury her but washed and laid her body in an upper room.