Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Saul and Barnabas are sent by the command of the Holy Spirit to evangelize the Gentiles: in Cyprus Saul converts Sergius Paulus the proconsul, and blinds Elymas the magician. Thence at Antioch of Pisidia Paul preaches in the synagogue, but driven out by the Jews, having shaken off the dust of his feet, he goes on with Barnabas to Iconium.
Vulgate Text: Acts 13:1-52
1. Now there were in the Church which was at Antioch, prophets and teachers, among whom were Barnabas, and Simon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manahen, who was the foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. 2. And as they were ministering to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them: Set apart for Me Saul and Barnabas, for the work to which I have taken them. 3. Then fasting and praying, and laying their hands on them, they sent them away. 4. So they, being sent by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5. And when they had come to Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They had also John as their minister. 6. And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7. who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a prudent man. He, having sent for Barnabas and Saul, desired to hear the word of God. 8. But Elymas the magician (for so his name is interpreted) withstood them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith. 9. But Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looking upon him, 10. said: O full of all guile and of all deceit, son of the devil, enemy of all justice, do you not cease to subvert the right ways of the Lord? 11. And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately there fell upon him a mist and darkness, and going around he sought someone to give him a hand. 12. Then the proconsul, when he had seen the deed, believed, marveling at the doctrine of the Lord. 13. And when Paul and those who were with him had sailed from Paphos, they came to Perge in Pamphylia. But John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. 14. But they passing through Perge, came to Antioch in Pisidia; and entering into the synagogue on the sabbath day, they sat down. 15. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying: Men, brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak. 16. Then Paul rising up, and with his hand bespeaking silence, said: Men of Israel, and you that fear God, listen: 17. The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they were sojourners in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm brought them out from there. 18. And for the space of forty years He bore with their manners in the desert. 19. And destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, by lot He distributed their land to them, 20. as after about four hundred and fifty years: and after these things He gave them Judges, until Samuel the prophet. 21. And after that they asked for a king: and God gave them Saul, the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22. And when He had removed him, He raised them up David to be king, of whom giving testimony, He said: I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man according to My own heart, who shall do all My will. 23. From the seed of this man, according to His promise, God brought forth to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, 24. John preaching, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25. And when John was fulfilling his course, he said: Whom do you think I am? I am not He, but behold, there comes after me One, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to loose. 26. Men, brethren, sons of the race of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. 27. For those who dwelt in Jerusalem, and its rulers, not knowing Him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath, fulfilled them by judging Him: 28. and finding no cause of death in Him, they asked of Pilate that they might kill Him. 29. And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of Him, taking Him down from the tree, they laid Him in a tomb. 30. But God raised Him up from the dead on the third day: who was seen for many days by those, 31. who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem: who to this present are His witnesses to the people. 32. And we declare to you the promise that was made to our fathers: 33. for God has fulfilled this to our children, raising up Jesus, as it is written also in the second Psalm: You are My Son: this day I have begotten You. 34. And that He raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He said thus: I will give you the holy things of David, the faithful. 35. And therefore also in another place He says: You shall not allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 36. For David, when he had served his own generation, by the will of God fell asleep: and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption. 37. But He whom God raised from the dead, saw no corruption. 38. Be it known to you therefore, men, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is announced to you; and from all those things from which you could not be justified in the law of Moses, 39. in Him every one that believes is justified. 40. Beware therefore lest there come upon you what was said in the prophets: 41. See, you despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which you will not believe, if anyone shall tell it to you. 42. And as they were going out, they begged that on the following sabbath these words might be spoken to them. 43. And when the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and of the worshipping proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking, urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44. And the following sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 45. But the Jews, seeing the crowds, were filled with envy, and contradicted those things which were spoken by Paul, blaspheming. 46. Then Paul and Barnabas said boldly: To you it was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken; but because you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47. For so the Lord has commanded us: I have set You to be the light of the Gentiles, that You may be for salvation to the ends of the earth. 48. And the Gentiles hearing it, were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as were preordained to life everlasting believed. 49. And the word of the Lord was spread throughout the whole country. 50. But the Jews stirred up religious and honorable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas; and cast them out of their borders. 51. But they, shaking off the dust of their feet against them, came to Iconium. 52. The disciples also were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Verse 1: Prophets and Doctors at Antioch
1. AT ANTIOCH, — on the Orontes, which was the metropolis of Syria, and was called Theopolis by the Emperor Justinian: hence by antonomasia it is called Antioch; but the others with an addition, Antioch of Pisidia, Antioch of Epiphany, etc.
PROPHETS, — properly so called. For the Holy Spirit in the beginnings of the Church gave, among other charisms, the gift of prophecy, as is clear from Joel II, 28; Acts II, 17; I Corinthians xiv. Although our Lorinus thinks that the Prophets are the same as the Doctors, namely the expounders of Holy Scripture. But Turrianus, in book I On the Hierarchical Orders, chapter xx, by Prophets understands Bishops, by Doctors Presbyters. For the Bishops, as St. Dionysius says in chapter vi of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, are the proclaimers of the divine judgments, because they ought to do nothing hierarchical except as moved by God. And we in turn, in those things which they perform hierarchically, must approach them as moved by God. Hence also by St. Clement, in book II of the Constitutions, they are called Prophets of the laity; nay more, the ordination of a Bishop is called prophecy by St. Paul, I Timothy IV, 14.
SIMON, WHO WAS CALLED NIGER, — from his black color, as it seems, just as the Flavii were called from yellow, the Albini from white, the Rufi from red, among the Romans.
LUCIUS OF CYRENE. — Bede, Ado, Usuard, and indeed the Roman Martyrology on the 6th of May (where he is added to the catalog of the Saints), record him as having been Bishop of Cyrene.
MANAHEN. — Concerning him we read in the Roman Martyrology on the 24th of May: "At Antioch, Saint Manahen, foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch, Doctor and Prophet under the grace of the New Testament, who reposes in the same city."
OF HEROD THE TETRARCH, — namely Herod Antipas, who was the son of Herod the Ascalonite, and uncle of Herod Agrippa, of whom in chapter xii, verse 1. This Antipas clothed Christ in a white garment and mocked Him, and put John the Baptist to death.
FOSTER-BROTHER. — Because as a boy he had been brought up with the boy Herod, and nursed at the milk of the same nurse. It signifies that Manahen was of a notable and illustrious family, inasmuch as he had been Herod's foster-brother.
Verse 2: As They Were Ministering to the Lord
2. AND AS THEY WERE MINISTERING TO THE LORD. — In Greek λειτουργούντων, that is, sacrificing, as Erasmus translates it, and the Zurich Bible, when they were ministering to the Lord. For to perform sacred things, or to work for God, is to sacrifice. For sacrifice is a work owed and proper to God alone: although the Scholia attributed to Vatablus expound "to minister to the Lord" as preaching the Gospel, as do also Oecumenius and Cajetan, which Calvin and Beza eagerly seize upon, who deny the sacrifice of the Mass. The Syriac has: when they were beginning prayers to God, namely public and solemn ones, which are made in the sacrifice. Hence indeed the sacrifice of the Mass is called the Liturgy; for although liturgy signifies ministry in general, yet by antonomasia it signifies sacrifice, as is clear from the Liturgy of St. James, St. Basil, St. Chrysostom, of the Mozarabs, etc. The word "to the Lord" proves the same; for no ministry is so properly rendered to the Lord as sacrifice: for the Gospel is preached to men, not to God. Hence too there follows: "And laying their hands on them," namely in the sacrifice of the Mass by the imposition of hands ordaining them Bishops, as St. Dionysius records the Apostles were accustomed to do, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, part I, chapter ii. See Bellarmine, book I On the Mass, chapter XIII.
You will say: by sacrifice here can be understood the Aaronic sacrifice, namely the immolation of a sheep or calf: for the faithful at that time observed the law of Moses, not from obligation, but lest they should offend the Jews. I reply that this cannot be said: for this sacrifice was offered at Antioch, whereas the Aaronic sacrifice could only be offered at Jerusalem in the temple of Solomon, according to the law, Deut. chapter xvi, 6.
FASTING. — For fasting, by the use and tradition of the Apostles, is wont to be set before ordination, both that the faithful may by fasting implore God's grace for the ordaining of suitable ministers of the Church; and that those to be ordained may by fasting dispose themselves to receive the grace of ordination. So St. Chrysostom here.
SAID — by the inward instinct which He inspired in the prophets and chief men of the Church.
SET APART FOR ME SAUL AND BARNABAS FOR THE WORK. — Set apart Saul as a vessel of election, that is, chosen and outstanding by the singular judgment of God, by which from eternity He decreed and set apart Saul as the Apostle of the Gentiles and Doctor of the world. So St. Chrysostom. Hence Paul also calls himself set apart, Galatians I, 15. "Set apart" him, therefore, by execution and mission, whom God set apart from eternity by election for this mission.
Furthermore, Saul from the very beginning of his conversion had been designated and commissioned by God as Apostle of the Gentiles, Acts ix, 15, but in first act and secretly: here, however, in second act and publicly he is designated Apostle of the same, in order that by evangelizing he may go to and traverse them. For up to this point he had preached only at Damascus and Antioch.
Barnabas also was set apart and raised up to the apostolate, on account of his outstanding virtue and zeal, by which he had laid all his goods at the feet of the Apostles, IV, 36, that he might be free to evangelize everywhere. Wherefore the monk Alexander adorns St. Barnabas with these praises at the beginning of his Life: "Barnabas, great orator of the Church, trumpet of evangelical preaching, great voice of Christ, lyre of the Holy Spirit, plectrum of divine grace, most stalwart soldier of Christ, sure leader of the Christian sheepfold, Paradise of God, seed of faith, sweetest rose of charity giving forth its fragrance, unfading flower of hope, cluster of immortality, dripping honey, bulwark of patience. Barnabas, son of consolation, master of piety, pillar and pinnacle of faith, firm and immovable tower, stable foundation, indissoluble base, harbor of the wavering, most noble architect, who held the heavenly path on earth, and led a life equal to the angels, helper of the poor, consolation of widows, procurator and father of orphans. Barnabas, treasure of Christ's mysteries, minister of the orthodox, physician of the sick, most vigilant guardian of the Christian flock, leader of the Gentiles, herald of the Churches, rose-garden breathing the heavenly fragrance of the virtues, most fertile field of Christ's graces, pearl of virginity, beryl of chastity, gem of temperance having Christ speaking within him, chosen vessel of God, temple of the Holy Trinity."
FOR THE WORK — namely of evangelizing the Gentiles everywhere.
TO WHICH I HAVE TAKEN THEM, — προσκέκλημαι, that is, I have summoned them. So Pagninus and the Zurich Bible; others, I have called them as helpers. Let the Apostles and apostolic men therefore remember that they are called as helpers by the Holy Spirit for the sanctification of souls, and therefore are co-workers and helpers of God in His divine and most noble work, as St. Paul says, I Cor. III, 9. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit summoned Saul and Barnabas by this very calling and command, saying: "Set apart for Me Saul, etc.," for we do not read of any other anywhere. Secondly, more plainly, "I have taken," that is, I decreed to take and from eternity predestined. For real verbs among the Hebrews must often be expounded through mental ones.
Verse 3: Then Fasting and Praying
3. THEN FASTING. — In Greek they are aorists, which the Syriac translates: after therefore they had fasted and had begun prayers, they laid (better, and had laid) hands on them, and sent them away. So Pagninus, Vatablus, and others.
AND LAYING HANDS ON THEM. — It is asked whether this imposition of hands was the sacrament of Order, namely the consecration to Presbyters or Bishops? Arias here denies it, and Cajetan, chapter vi, 6, and also Francisco Suarez, vol. III, on the III part, disp. xxxiv, sect. 4 (and others), where he asserts that this laying on of hands was deprecatory, not ordinative. The reason is: First, because Saul had already before been ordained Apostle by God, Acts IX, 15. Hence Galatians II, 6, he says that the other Apostles conferred nothing on him. Therefore here only the execution of his apostolate is imposed on him, namely he is sent to evangelize: for which a new ordination was not needed. In a similar way Paul, II Cor. viii, 19, says of his companion that he was ordained, that is, appointed companion of his journey. Second, because Paul seems to have been ordained Presbyter and Bishop by St. Peter and the Apostles, none of whom is here named.
But others better affirm and say that Saul and Barnabas were here ordained Bishops. For it is plainly likely that they had already before been ordained Presbyters. For now for a year they had taught a great multitude at Antioch, as Luke says, chapter xi, verse 26; and this is proper to Presbyters, as Turrianus rightly notes, book I On the Hierarchical Orders, chapter xxvi. The reason is: First, because the circumstances seem to require it, namely the liturgy, the preceding fast, and the imposition of hands. For from this, as it were by the practice and example of the Apostles, the Church is wont to prepend fasts and prayers before the imposition of hands, that is, before the consecration of those to be ordained, and to perform it within the Liturgy of the Mass. Second, because we nowhere read that Saul and Barnabas were ordained Bishops, except here: hence soon in chapter xiv and following, they performed Episcopal duties, ordaining Presbyters throughout the cities. Third, because this imposition of hands was done in the year of Christ 45, as Baronius deduces, and is clear from what was said, chapter xii, verse 1, when Paul was caught up to the third heaven and heard hidden words which it is not lawful for a man to speak, as I have shown II Cor. xii, 2; namely because it was fitting that Saul, soon to be the teacher of the Gentiles and about to begin his legation to them, should be caught up to heaven, so that as it were a heavenly teacher, in the manner of Moses, he might seem to be sent to them from heaven. Therefore it was fitting that then also the final hand of ordination, by consecration to the Episcopate, should be laid on him.
You will say first: How then does Paul say of the other Apostles, "They conferred nothing on me"? Galatians II, 6. I reply that this is to be understood of doctrine and the Gospel; for this he learned from Christ Himself, not from the Apostles. For otherwise Ananias conferred baptism on him, the Apostles Confirmation and Order.
You will say secondly: What Apostle and Bishop here ordained them? Not Peter, as Arator wishes, because he had already gone to Rome. Not James the son of Zebedee, because he had already been killed by Herod. Not the other Apostles, because they had already departed to their own provinces. Lyranus replies that there were Bishops at Antioch ordained by the Apostles, who ordained them. Oecumenius thinks that Lucius and Manahen laid hands on them. It was also possible for St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, to be summoned from Judaea; St. John, St. Matthias, or some other nearer Apostle. Hence St. Leo in the place already cited says they were ordained by the Apostles.
You will ask secondly, in what year was Saul ordained with Barnabas, and began his apostolate to the Gentiles? I reply: Bede thinks it was in the 13th year from Christ's ascension, which was the 47th from Christ's nativity. Secondly, the Alexandrian Chronicle, or Sicilian Fasti, write that it happened in the fifth year of the emperor Claudius, which was Christ's 46th. The truer view is that he was ordained in the year of Christ 44, coinciding with the 3rd year of the emperor Claudius; for at the beginning of this year 45, Peter freed from prison came to Rome and there established his see, as I showed in the preceding chapter, verse 1. For these things, attached to the preceding chapter, seem to have happened a little after Peter's imprisonment. So Baronius and others: namely it was fitting that, in the year Saul went to subjugate the Gentiles to Christ, in that same year Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, should make for the citadel of paganism, namely Rome, and subject it to Christ. St. Leo adds, in the epistle cited to Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria, that Saul and Barnabas were ordained on the Lord's day, and therefore he decreed that the same should henceforth be done. Hence this decree of Leo has been included in Canon Law, and is found in distinction LXXV, canon 5: "That on the Lord's day the ordinations of priests be celebrated," etc.
Finally St. Jerome notes, epistle 85 to Evagrius, that this ordination of ministers of the Church was foreshadowed in the Old Testament, and from there assumed into the New. For what, he himself says, Aaron and his sons and the Levites were in the temple, this in the Church the Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons claim for themselves: hence also Aaron and his sons were ordained by the imposition of Moses' hands, Exod. xxix, 9 and following.
Verse 4: They Went to Seleucia
4. THEY WENT TO SELEUCIA. — Because this was near Antioch, from which they were sent, and was a populous and renowned city. It was founded and named after Seleucus Nicanor, one of the generals of Alexander the Great, who first after Alexander, namely in the twelfth year after his death, placed on his head the diadem of Asia, and from there begin and are counted the years of the Greeks (that is, of the Macedonians, the descendants of Seleucus) in the books of Maccabees. Volaterranus relates, in book XI of his Geography, that Seleucus called sixteen cities Antiochs in honor of his father Antiochus; nine Seleucias after himself; from his mother Laodice, five Laodiceas; from his wife Apamia, three Apamias.
AND FROM THERE THEY SAILED TO CYPRUS, — because from Seleucia the crossing into Cyprus is convenient.
Verse 5: At Salamis in the Synagogues of the Jews
5. SALAMIS — which afterwards was called Constantia by the Emperor Constantine, whose Bishop was St. Epiphanius; now it is called Famagusta, as if Fama augusta ("august fame"), having been captured seventy years ago by Selim, emperor of the Turks.
IN THE SYNAGOGUES OF THE JEWS. — They begin with the Jews, lest these should become more contentious, says St. Chrysostom, if they had seen the Gentiles preferred to them in the Gospel.
AND THEY HAD ALSO JOHN (surnamed Mark, of whom in chapter xii, verse 25) AS MINISTER. — In Greek ὑπηρέτην, that is, minister, as if to say John Mark was ministering to Saul and Barnabas, especially in the care of food, clothing, and temporal things, and was helping them so that they might more easily and fully evangelize.
Verse 6: Whose Name Was Bar-Jesus
6. WHOSE NAME WAS BAR-JESUS. — Many codices read Barjeu, or Barjehu, as if Bar Jehova, that is, son of God, namely Jove. Just as Simon Magus called himself the power of God, ch. viii, verse 10. Hence Paul, alluding here in verse 10 and refuting it, calls him the son not of God but of the devil. But the correct reading is Barjesu (for so the corrected Greek and Roman texts read), that is, son of the savior, this is, savior. For this name the impostor arrogated to himself, because by magic he healed many sick. Add, it seems that his father was called Jesus: for from Joshua, the first most famous leader of the Hebrews, who brought them into the promised land, many were called Joshua, or Jesus: so Sanchez. Wherefore the Syriac less correctly reads Barschoumo for Barjesu, that is, son of the name, this is, named, renowned and famous, as if Elymas reversed were the same as Schoumo, of whom more presently.
Verse 7: He Was With the Proconsul
7. WHO WAS WITH THE PROCONSUL. — "Proconsul" was as it were a vicar of the consul, namely because in the name of the Roman consul, with consular power, he administered the province: hence he was also called its president or prefect. Again, the proconsuls at Rome were called ex-consuls, namely those who had been consuls in the preceding year. For these retained in part the title of the office they had held, and were often sent as proconsuls to govern provinces. See Sigonius, On Roman Magistrates.
HE DESIRED TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD. — ἐπεζήτησεν, that is, he eagerly sought and longed for: hence too he deserved to obtain his wish. God is wont, in those for whom He destines faith and grace, first to put in them the desire of it, that by this they may prepare themselves for so great a gift, and demand it earnestly, and as it were earn it by entreaty. Hence St. Chrysostom reckons it a miracle that Sergius Paulus, prepossessed by the magician, so greatly desired to hear the Apostles.
Verse 8: Elymas the Magician
8. ELYMAS THE MAGICIAN: FOR SO HIS NAME IS INTERPRETED. — Various authors explain this in various ways. First, Cajetan, taking αὐτοῦ, that is, his, in the sense of his own (for the Hebrews have the same reciprocal pronoun as the absolute), thus translates and explains, as if to say: Bar-Jesus wanted to be called Elymas, that is, the measure or estimate of God, pretending and lying that Bar-Jesus meant this. For so he himself interpreted his Hebrew name among the Greeks; but as a magician and impostor he lied and deceived them. For Bar-Jesus was called as if son of Jesus, which has nothing in common with Elymas, that is, estimate of God. Others less improbably explain it thus: "is interpreted," that is, is called by another name, as if to say Bar-Jesus was called by another name Elymas the magician. As if you should say: Peter is interpreted, that is, is called by another name Simon. Second, others want Bar-Jesus in Hebrew to signify magician; but this belongs to those ignorant of the Hebrew tongue, in which Bar-Jesus is the same as son of the Savior. Third, Gagneius interprets Elymas as blind: for he says it is in Hebrew called Elimana, or Eliman, because Elymas was blinded by St. Paul. But this also is false, as well as irrelevant, because St. Luke interprets Elymas as magician, not as blind. Fourth, Arias from the Syriac: Elymas, he says, reversed is the same as Samuel, that is, the name of God, or a strong and magnificent name, such as magicians are wont to use in their incantations. Fifth, Mariana: Elymas, he says, is called magician, from Elymais a region of Persia, in which magicians abound: just as Chaldean is the same as astrologer or magician, because the Chaldeans were ancient, signifying a magus: just as I said earlier about Barnabas at chap. IV, verse 36. Certainly the Hebrews call alam to conceal and to hide; and from this the Greeks use eilo to mean to wrap up, to entangle, and eilos or eiloma for a wrapping, something hidden; and the Arabs from the Hebrew alam call wisdom alilm or talim, that is, a secret thing; and they call alim one who is knowing, lettered, learned, as if similarly Elymas among the Cypriots was the same as an impostor, illusionist, magus, mystes, one who professed the knowledge of hidden things, mysteries, and secret arts. So say several skilled in languages. Thus also Pagninus, in Interpretation of Hebrew Names: The name Elymas, he says, signifies a magus, or a corrupter, or a destructive one, or a covering and a wrapping, from alam, that is, I wrap, I entangle in mire: whence also abalim, that is, a hiding-place, lair, cave, where magi are accustomed to converse with the demon and to practice their magic; and from azaba, that is, to move in the manner of a serpent. For the demon often appears to magi in the form of a serpent.
Truly Elymas seems, like many other words, to have crept into Greek from a foreign tongue. For the Cypriots speak Greek, as they also seem to have spoken anciently, as the Cypriots assured me at Rome, and as Aristotle indicates in his book On Poetics, chap. XXI; where, however, he hints that they had their own dialect. Furthermore, just as St. Peter had a contest with Simon Magus, and St. John with Apollonius of Tyana likewise a magus, so here also Paul with Elymas the magus. For the devil through his own magi most strongly opposed himself to Christ, the Apostles and the Church, as he still opposes himself even now. For the sect of magi and witches greatly increases, which preys upon the bodies and souls of the faithful.
They were devoted to astrology. Sixthly, Vatablus: Elymas, in the Cyprian language signified son of consolation, he says; in Greek it is the same as illusionist, enchanter, impostor. But from what root? and on what authority? Some derive it from μέλας, that is, black, so that black is the same as magus, as the Germans and Belgians call the black arts magical, indeed magic is commonly called nicromancy, though perhaps for necromancy. Others render Elymas as corrupter, destroyer, devastator, such as magi are; so that it would be the same as λυμεών, that is, destroyer, from λύμη, that is, ruin: for the verb λυμαίνω signifies to destroy, to corrupt, to lay waste, and this seems plausible. Seventhly, others think Elymas to be a Hebrew name, but variously: for first, St. Jerome, in Names of the Hebrews, and Bede after him: "Elymas, he says, is the same as 'to transgression,' or 'making transgression.'" Secondly, Beza derives Elymas from el joets, that is, counselor of God: for the magi were the wise men and counselors of the Persians, and the impostor Muhammad pretended to be a counselor of God. But Elymas is far distant from el joets. Thirdly, Lyranus: Elymas, he says, is the same as Eli mas, that is, tribute of God, census of God, measure of God. Fourthly, Bibliander as cited by Bullinger thinks that Elymas by metathesis is the same as Elias, or Eliseus, or Elia Moses: for this is suggested by the word μεθερμηνεύεται, namely that this name is to be expounded by some transposition or change of letters: for πέρα signifies across, as if Elymas pretended to be Elias, or to have the soul of Elias and Moses. But what has this to do with the name Magus, by which word Luke interprets Elymas? Fifthly, others would have it be a Syriac name: for Elyma in Syriac means angry, drunk with wrath and as it were furious, as magi and the possessed are driven by the furies of the demon. Sixthly, Elias Hutter, in his Hebrew version of the New Testament, in this place renders Elymas as eli maschiach, that is, Eli messias, that is, my God Messias, as if the magus here pretended to be God the Messias, or Christ, and for Elimessias by crasis called himself Elymas; and therefore he interpreted his name Barjehu, or Barjesu, as Elymas, that is, Elimessias: for Barjehu is son of God, Barjesu is son of the Savior, that is, Savior; who indeed is no other than Elimessias, that is, God Christ; just as we interpret Jesus, by adding and pointing to Christ. But wrongly does he substitute Eli Maschiach for Elymas, which has the letter chet, which Elymas lacks. Again Eli is written with iod, Elymas with upsilon. For no one by Elymas has understood or understands the Messias to be signified. For nowhere is the name of the Messias contracted by crasis, but everywhere placed and pronounced whole. Add that his proper name was Elymas, which is interpreted Magus; for Barjesu was his cognomen from his parent, as if to say, Elymas son of Jesus. So Simon was surnamed Bar Jona, that is, son of Jonah.
Seventhly and most probably Sanchez: Elymas, he says, seems to be a barbarian name, and perhaps Cyprian.
Verse 9: Saul, Who Is Also Paul
9. BUT SAUL, WHO ALSO IS PAUL. — Here for the first time Saul is called Paul, which name from now on Luke always gives him. Whence it seems that on the occasion of Sergius Paulus the proconsul and of his apostolate to the Gentiles, he changed the Hebrew name Saul into the Roman and Greek Paul, so that he might more easily and pleasantly insinuate himself to the Romans and Greeks, as if Roman both in fact and in name. See what is said on Rom. 1:1.
FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT. — Here Paul feels a new ardor and instinct of the Holy Spirit for undertaking an arduous and miraculous work, namely for confuting and blinding Elymas the magus, and by that means converting Sergius Paulus the proconsul. See what is said at chap. II, 4.
LOOKING INTENTLY UPON HIM, — with wrathful and burning eyes piercing the hidden malice of Elymas, confronting and chastising. "In the eyes," says Pliny, book XI, chap. XXXVII, "the soul dwells. They burn, are intent, twinkle, blink. With the soul we see: the eyes, or certain vessels, receive and transmit its visible part." In the eyes therefore is discerned the soul and its passions and motions of anger, indignation, love, kindness, etc. And this is more truly so in the Saints and Apostles, whose souls and thence eyes the Holy Spirit inhabits and rules.
Verse 10: O Full of All Guile, Son of the Devil
10. O FULL OF ALL DECEIT (internal) AND OF ALL DECEPTION — external; Pagninus and the Tigurine version, of all craftiness. The Syriac, of all wickednesses: for these things magi readily perpetrate at the instigation of the devil; and the Greek πανουργία signifies a propensity for committing any crime, says Vatablus.
SON OF THE DEVIL. — "Son," not by generation, but by instinct and imitation, because you carry out in deed his suggestions and tricks against Christ. For the devil is like a serpent, most cunning and most crafty. For, as St. Cyril says, on chap. VI of John, book IV, chap. XXX: "Just as one who cleaves to God becomes one spirit with Him; so one who cleaves to the devil becomes in some manner a devil." Whence Judas also, because he was treacherous and a betrayer of Christ, is called by Him "a devil," John VI, 70. Truly St. Justin, cited in Damascene, book I Parallel., chap. XXIV: "The leader and governor of life turned away from reason is the demon."
ENEMY (not by chance, not by a slip of weakness, but by zeal, intention, fixed malice and determined will) OF ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS. — Firstly, because Elymas opposed himself to the Gospel of Christ, which Paul was delivering, in which is contained all righteousness. So St. Chrysostom. Secondly, "of all," that is, both human and divine; because he was hindering the faith of Christ, through which alone true justification is given, which makes us righteous both before God and before men. Thirdly, "of righteousness," that is, of virtue: for, as Aristotle says, book V Ethics, general justice is a virtue which contains within itself all virtues: for every true virtue rests on the faith and grace of Christ, whom Elymas was resisting. So Arias. Fourthly, "of righteousness," that is, of what is right and just, namely of divine law, which prescribes what is just, as if to say: You are an enemy of the Evangelical law, which embraces in itself every law, namely both of nature and of Moses, both divine and human. So Dionysius. Fifthly, "all" sometimes means the same as whole, perfect: as in Eccles. XII, 13: "Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole man:" all, that is, the whole, the perfect, or whatever a man is. For often the Hebrews by catachresis take the universal whole for the integral whole, that is, all for the whole, as if to say: Every good, every duty, all perfection, the end and happiness of man in this life consists in the fear of God and the observance of His law. Or: This is what every man, however great he may be, ought to have in view in all his words and deeds and his whole life, that he may continually and everywhere set the fear of God before his eyes, and from there be impelled to the keeping of His precepts. For, as Salonius says in the same place, he who lives and acts otherwise is not a man, but a beast, because he lives not rationally, which is the nature of man, but bestially, namely if gluttonously, like a wolf; if deceitfully, like a fox; if proudly, like a lion; if cruelly, like a tiger; if lustfully, like a pig; if slothfully, like an ass.
WILL YOU NOT CEASE TO PERVERT THE STRAIGHT WAYS OF THE LORD? — More vigorously the Greek and the Syriac have, will you not cease? as if to say: How long will you not cease to pervert, and, the Tigurine, to invert the straight ways of the Lord? "The ways of the Lord" are the Gospel, the faith, the law and the grace of Christ, whom Elymas was resisting, putting in their place and opposing them his magical arts, by which the devil was worshiped. For by these as it were ways he enters the soul, and dwells in it as it were in his own temple.
Verse 11: Behold, the Hand of the Lord
11. BEHOLD, THE HAND, — that is, vengeance and punishment, which is done by the hand. It is a metonymy. Mystically also Chrysostom: This, he says, was the healing hand of God, because it was directed not to vengeance, but to the healing of Elymas, that he, struck by the blinding of his eyes, might open the eyes of his mind, and by faith acknowledge Christ.
AND YOU SHALL BE BLIND. — Because indeed you lead others into blindness and error of mind, justly and fittingly God punishes you with blindness of the eyes, says Bede.
NOT SEEING THE SUN UNTIL A TIME. — A temporary, not a perpetual, blindness, as the Gloss would have it, did Paul inflict upon him, that he might come to his senses. Some think that he came to his senses for a time, believed Paul, and was cured of blindness. So Isidore of Pelusium, book I, epistle 354. But it is clear that he afterwards returned to Judaism and magic: for St. Dionysius, chap. VIII On Divine Names, asserts that Elymas afterwards again resisted Paul, and by name argued his saying: "God cannot deny Himself," II Timothy II, 13, as if it followed from there that God was not omnipotent. Whence Bede subjects Elymas to the eternal vengeance of God, on account of the incurable weight of his sins.
A MIST, — which like a cloud, vapor, or fog veiled his eyes, and took from them the power and use of seeing: whence, after it was removed by God, he again saw rightly.
Verse 12: Then the Proconsul Believed
12. THEN THE PROCONSUL WHEN HE HAD SEEN WHAT WAS DONE, — namely the blinding of Elymas and the devil overcome in him by Paul, believed, marveling, ἐκπληττόμενος, that is, struck, astonished, suffused with sacred awe, at the teaching of the Lord; namely that it was so powerful and so wonder-working, that immediately it struck with blindness Elymas who resisted it, although a magus and a worker of marvels. Furthermore this proconsul, as it were the illustrious first-fruits of Paul's spoils from the Gentiles, gave him his name, so that instead of Saul he would be called Paul. For he was made Bishop by Paul and shone with apostolic spirit, and therefore was numbered among the Saints. Concerning him Lucius Dexter writes thus first of all in his Chronicle for the year of Christ 76: "Sergius Paulus at Seville, Cordoba, Barcelona, Saragossa, Sigüenza and in very many other cities of Spain he preaches, and traverses all the provinces of Spain." Furthermore that he was made Bishop of Narbonne in Gaul, Prudentius teaches in Peri Stephanon, Hymn 4: "And glorious Narbo also shall arise for Paul." And the Roman Martyrology, on the 22nd day of March, has this concerning him: "At Narbonne in Gaul, the birthday of St. Paul the Bishop, a disciple of the Apostles, whom they say was Sergius Paulus the proconsul, who, baptized by Paul the Apostle, and when journeying into Spain was left at Narbonne, was there endowed with episcopal dignity: where, having not slothfully fulfilled the office of preaching, illustrious for miracles he passed to heaven."
Verse 13: John Departing From Them
13. NOW JOHN (surnamed Mark) DEPARTING FROM THEM, RETURNED TO JERUSALEM, — out of some pusillanimity unwilling to undertake so many journeys and to undergo such great perils, says St. Chrysostom and Baronius. Hence arose the disagreement and division of Paul and Barnabas, concerning which the next chapter.
Verse 14: On the Day of the Sabbath
14. ON THE DAY OF THE SABBATHS, — that is, on the day of the sabbath, or on one day from among the sabbaths: for various sabbaths occurred throughout the year and each month.
Verse 15: After the Reading of the Law
15. AFTER THE READING OF THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS. — For when the reading was finished, someone either from the Synagogue or a stranger gave a sermon, just as in parish churches after the reading of the Epistle and Gospel at Mass a sermon is given, and that by the institution of the Apostles, as St. Clement testifies, book VIII, Constit. 4. Hence also in the Canonical Hours after the Psalms, Epistles and Gospels, homilies of the Fathers are read. Furthermore they were accustomed to invite strangers, if they seemed suitable, to give this sermon out of courtesy, as here they invite Paul. The same concerning Bishops, when they go to another Bishop and another city, that they be invited to preach, the Fourth Council of Carthage, can. 33, and St. Clement, book II Constit., 58, ordains. Examples in the Lives of the Saints concerning this matter are everywhere readily found.
IF THERE IS IN YOU ANY WORD OF EXHORTATION. — The Tigurine, if you have in mind to exhort the people by a discourse, if it pleases you to speak and to exhort.
Verse 16: Men of Israel and You That Fear God
16. SIGNALING SILENCE WITH HIS HAND. — So says Persius: "To have made the silence of the crowd / By the majesty of his hand." For by this gesture those about to speak anciently signaled silence.
MEN, ISRAELITES. — This is the first sermon of St. Paul described by St. Luke, full of wisdom and Apostolic, indeed Pauline spirit, whose summary is this, says Lyranus: That God who conferred so many benefits upon so many ancient fathers, once promised redemption to you in the seed of David, has now fulfilled it in Jesus of Nazareth: believe Him therefore as Redeemer, cleave to Him.
AND YOU WHO FEAR GOD. — Firstly, as if this were an exposition and epithet of the Israelites, the sense is, as if to say: You who are Israelites, descendants of Israel, or of Jacob the Patriarch, and therefore you fear God. So Chrysostom. Secondly more simply, that this is distinct from the Israelites: for this is indicated by the conjunction "and," as if to say: And you, O proselytes, or Gentiles converted to Judaism, who fear, that is, reverence and worship, the true God. For fear in the Scriptures signifies the worship of God. For proselytes with the Jews on sabbaths assembled in the Synagogue to hear the law. So Arias, Lorinus and others.
Verse 17: He Chose Our Fathers
17. HE CHOSE OUR FATHERS, — out of all the nations, that they might be the people and Church of God. And He chose them in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, by calling them to His worship, and by promising them that He would be their God and would produce Christ from their seed; and in Moses, who on Sinai received the law from God and the rite of sacred things, by which the Israelites would worship God.
AND HE EXALTED THE PEOPLE, — through Moses, who inflicted ten plagues upon Pharaoh in Egypt, by which he compelled him to send the Israelites out free from servitude, and who was a powerful and glorious leader of the people going out of Egypt, inasmuch as he was led and directed by God, and was instructed and adorned by Him with oracles and heavenly prodigies.
WITH AN UPLIFTED ARM, — with greatest strength and power.
Verse 18: He Bore With Their Manners
18. HE BORE WITH THEIR MANNERS (unrefined, rude, hard, rebellious). — For they were a stiff-necked people: just as a mother bears with not only the childish but also the malicious manners and gestures of her little son, whom she alone loves. See Deut. XXXII, 10, and Num. XI, 11.
Verse 19: Their Land
19. THEIR LAND, — that is, of those nations.
Verse 20: After Four Hundred and Fifty Years
20. AS IT WERE AFTER FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS. — These years are variously calculated by Abulensis, Julius, Hilarion, Gagneius, Cajetan, Arias, John, Benedict. I say briefly that they are to be begun from the birth of Isaac: for he was the heir of the promises made by God to Abraham his father, concerning the promised land, not Ismael his brother from Hagar. For from then until the going out from Egypt 405 years flowed by, to which add 40 years in which the Hebrews wandered in the desert, and five, or seven, as many would have it, years of the wars of Joshua, after which were finished the land was divided to the Hebrews by lots, you will have 450 years, or 432. For Scripture is accustomed to neglect small surplus numbers, and to register whole and round numbers, such as 430. So Bede, the Gloss, Lyranus, Hugo, Dionysius and others.
In the Greek and Syriac there is here an error, as Luther and Beza also confess. For they have thus: "And after these things, after about four hundred and fifty years, He gave them Judges." That this is false, is clear from the book and chronology of Judges: for it is established that they did not preside for 400 years. Whence some think that for 430 we should read 350, for about so many years did the Judges preside over Israel. See concerning these years what was said at Exod. chap. XXXII, verse 40.
Verse 21: Saul, for Forty Years
21. SAUL, etc., FOR FORTY YEARS. — In these 40 years are included the years of Samuel, in which he himself before Saul presided over Israel. So Josephus, book XIII Antiq., at the end; Eusebius, in the Chronicle; Sulpicius Severus, book I Sacred History; Abulensis, on I Chron. chap. XIX, vers. 9, and others everywhere, except Melchior Cano, book XI On the Places, chap. V and following, who after Samuel assigns to Saul alone 40 years of reign, following Eusebius, book X Preparation, chap. III. But Eusebius retracts that in the Chronicle. For Paul here places Samuel not among the Judges, but among the Prophets, and so ends the time of the Judges at the death of Eli, who preceded Samuel. For he says: "And after these things He gave Judges until Samuel the prophet." Therefore the time of Samuel he reckons not to the Judges, but to the Kings who followed the Judges: and accordingly that whole time which from the end of the Judges, or from the death of Eli, flowed until the end of Saul's reign (in which is certainly comprehended the time of Samuel as Judge), he defines as forty years. So Torniellus at the year of the world 2979.
Verse 22: Who Shall Do All My Will
22. WHO SHALL DO ALL MY WILL, — that is, all the things willed, namely all My precepts, "except the matter of Uriah the Hittite," as is added at II Kings chap. XI, vers. 2, namely except the adultery and homicide of David. In which nevertheless he again did the will of God, when he humbly confessed it, bitterly mourned it and through penance abolished it. So St. Augustine to Dulcitius, Quest. VIII, vol. IV. For the sin of numbering the people, like some other things, was neither so great, nor so much David's, as the people's, concerning which II Kings chap. XXIV, vers. 1. "All" therefore, that is, most, nearly all; for when in a great heap, e.g. of men, only one or another is missing, we say that all are present.
Verse 23: He Brought Forth Israel a Saviour
23. HE BROUGHT FORTH ISRAEL, — He raised up for Israel a savior, Jesus: for the Greek is the dative τῷ Ἰσραήλ.
Verse 24: Before the Face of His Coming
24. BEFORE THE FACE OF HIS COMING (in Greek, entry), — that is, before His coming, that is, before Him coming, or also in His presence as He was coming and entering to Israel. For John was the precursor of Christ, and before Christ preached repentance, that he might prepare the way for the coming Christ, and prepare the people to receive grace, righteousness and salvation from Christ. For just as Lucifer (the morning star) precedes the sun, so John precedes Christ.
A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE, — that is, a baptism which was a symbol and incitement to repentance, for the remission of sins and the righteousness to be received in the baptism of Christ. The baptism of John therefore was of repentance, but Christ's was of righteousness. See Matt. III, 11, and Acts I, 5.
Verse 25: Whom Do You Think Me to Be
25. HIS COURSE, — namely both of his life and of his ministry: which was to give testimony to Christ and to show Him to Israel, and to prepare the hearts of men to receive Him.
WHOM DO YOU THINK ME TO BE? — As if to say: You think me to be the Messias, or Christ: you are deceived, I am not Christ; but behold, Christ will come immediately after me, whom I am not worthy to unloose.
Note here the humility of St. John, by which he not only refused the name and honor of the Messias offered to him by the Jews, but also cast himself beneath the feet of Christ, saying that he was not worthy to touch the shoes of Christ, inasmuch as He was not only man, but also omnipotent God, and by this humility he merited to be exalted, and not only to touch Christ's feet, but also His head and to baptize Him, indeed to be His paranymph and the most loving friend of the Bridegroom.
Verse 27: They Fulfilled the Voices of the Prophets
27. JUDGING (that is, condemning Jesus to the cross) THEY FULFILLED (namely) THE VOICES OF THE PROPHETS, — who with one mouth predicted that Christ would suffer and die for our salvation. So the Syriac. See what is said at chap. III, verse 18.
Verse 32: The Promise Made to the Fathers
32. THE PROMISE WHICH WAS MADE TO THE FATHERS, — concerning Christ's incarnation and the redemption of the world.
Verse 33: Today I Have Begotten Thee
33. THIS GOD HAS FULFILLED FOR OUR CHILDREN. — In Greek, for their children, namely of our fathers, that is, for us. So Pagninus, Vatablus, Erasmus and others. "For ours," therefore, that is, of our fathers, namely for our generation, our nation, our age. Others read, for your children. All these readings come back to the same thing.
IN THE SECOND PSALM. — Certain Greek codices read first, because some join the second psalm with the first into one. Others better read second: for commonly others separate the second psalm from the first, as Lorinus and Francis Lucas teach extensively here, in their Annotations.
HE SAID. — Eunomius once objected, by what word did He say? For the Son is the first and only Word of God, through which He created all things. Did He then by the same Word speak to the Word Himself? I answer absolutely: For the Word is that which is spoken, and by being spoken is produced and begotten; and at the same time it is that to which it is said: "You are My Son." For, as I said, by being spoken He is begotten: for He is the word of the mind, which by understanding and speaking is begotten, not by sowing, as creatures produce their sons and offspring. Nor is He spoken by another word, since He is the first (otherwise there would be a progression to infinity), but by Himself. In a similar manner the Father and the Son love the Holy Spirit not by another, but by the same love by which They breathe forth and produce Him.
I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU TODAY. — This verse of Psalm II the Interpreters expound in three ways. Firstly and best, of the divine generation of Christ; secondly, of His incarnation: see what is said at Heb. I, V; thirdly, of His resurrection from the dead: for this is called regeneration in Scripture. Whence Christ is also called the firstborn from the dead. For the Apostle by these words seems to wish to prove the resurrection of Christ: for in it he is wholly engaged. Nor does this sense ill agree with what is said in Psalm II about the Gentiles and peoples rising up against Christ, namely by killing Him, as if to say: Although the Jews rise up against Christ and kill Him and try to abolish His name; nevertheless I will raise Him up and beget Him a second time as it were; and when He is raised up, by reason of the merit of His passion and death, I will give the nations as a heritage, that He may have an eternal kingdom and name. So St. Hilary, Chrysostom, Jansenius, Vatablus, Flaminius, Varlenius, on Psalm II, and St. Ambrose, book III On the Priesthood, chap. I.
Wherefore that this passage has a threefold sense: the first concerning the divine generation, the second concerning the incarnation, the third concerning the resurrection, is conceded by Suarez, vol. II On the Incarnation, disp. IV, sect. 1; Viegas, on chap. I of Apoc.; Gregory of Valentia, I part., concerning Theology itself, disp. I, Quaest. I, point 5; Molina, I part., Quaest. XXVII, art. I, disp. II, and others, so that the sense is: Firstly, I today, that is, in eternity, which is as it were a point always enduring, and as it were one and the same today, have begotten You My Son, God. Secondly, I likewise by human generation in the Blessed Virgin, You, O Christ, have begotten as man today, namely on this day of incarnation and nativity. Thirdly, I today, that is, on this day of Pascha, have raised You up. But because to others this third exposition seems harsh, and yet it pertains to the humanity, or to Christ as named, both as first begotten of the Blessed Virgin, and as afterwards raised from the dead, inasmuch as through the resurrection He was again made this man, who is hypostatically united to God and is the Son of God. For of Him it is truly said, that He is begotten from eternity by God, that He is the Son of God, omnipotent, immense, etc., through the communication of idioms, as Molina rightly teaches in the place already cited. By this communication therefore, this passage can be referred to Christ rising again.
Which sense one embraces, because the Apostle, Heb. I, explains this passage concerning the eternal generation of Christ, it can more easily be said of the same that he is here expounding the same. For these words need not be referred to resuscitans, which immediately preceded; but more remotely to annuntiamus eam, the promise which was made to our fathers: for this promise is Christ, or the mission of Christ the Son of God into flesh and the world: for that Christ the Son of God had come as redeemer and been already born, was certainly to be proved by Paul and the Apostles. The other point, however, concerning His resurrection, he proves in what follows. That this is so, is indicated by what follows.
Verse 34: I Will Give You the Holy Things of David
34. AND WHEREAS HE RAISED HIM UP FROM THE DEAD, etc., HE SAID THUS. — Where note the "and" (autem), as if to say: I have proved Christ to be the true and natural Son of God from Psalm II: "You are My Son: today I have begotten You." And that the same one killed by the Jews was raised up by God the Father, I prove from Isaiah LV, 3: "For I will give you the faithful holy things of David." Thirdly, because through the Hebrews, I; Genebrardus, on Psalm II; Bellarmine, book I On Christ, chap. V. And to this finally St. Ambrose accedes, who thus expounds, as if to say: I today properly begot You, and again confirmed this Your generation today, when I called You back to life after You had been slain, and as it were begot You again today. For the resurrection of Christ was the indicator of His divinity, because by divine power Christ raised Himself and bestowed upon us the same power and grace of rising. Which sense is intermediate, and reconciles both expositions, indeed joins them. For often the active verbs of the Hebrews signify not the action, but the proof, demonstration and confirmation of the action, so that it is said then to be done, when it is shown to have been done. So Sanchez and Vasquez, I part., Quaest. I, disp. XVIII, num. 6. Thus therefore "I have begotten You," that is, I have shown You begotten from Me, or I have shown that I have begotten You. But the earlier sense concerning the very eternal generation of Christ, as it is simpler, so it is more genuine. For of that it is properly said: "Today I have begotten You." For in eternity and in eternal generation, "where the day is neither begun by the end of yesterday, nor terminated by the beginning of tomorrow, it is always today," says St. Augustine. Today therefore properly belongs to eternity. For "today signifies presence, and in eternity nothing is past, as though it had ceased to be; nor future, as though it were not yet, but only present: because whatever is eternal, always is," says St. Augustine on Psalm II. The same therefore "today I have begotten You," only proves and explains that which preceded, "You are My Son," as if to say: You are My Son, because I today, that is, in the instant of eternity, have begotten and always beget You. But Christ was not constituted Son of God by the resurrection, but by His first generation: for the Apostles everywhere inculcate the divinity of Christ, lest He should seem to have been a mere man, as the Jews believed, and afterwards Nestorius, Arius, and other heretics also believed. So Oecumenius, St. Augustine, Bede, Cajetan, Lyranus, Dionysius, Ribera.
AND WHEREAS HE RAISED. — Here he proves Christ's resurrection, as a little before His divinity.
NO MORE TO RETURN TO CORRUPTION, — that is, to death: for death is the corruption of man and of human nature. For Christ once dead and rising, dies no more: moreover He was not corrupted in His first death either, that is, He was not made putrid and reduced to ashes, as will be said presently.
I WILL GIVE YOU THE FAITHFUL HOLY THINGS OF DAVID. — "Holy things," that is, the holy, pious and bountiful promises of God made to David, I will make faithful, that is, valid, firm and stable: because I will fulfill them in deed, by performing whatever I promised him concerning Christ to be born from his seed. Among other things which I promised him concerning Christ, are the resurrection and the eternal kingdom of Him, and of all the faithful through Him, Psalm XV, 10: "For You will not abandon My soul in hell, nor will You give Your Holy One to see corruption." He cites Isaiah LV, 3: "I will strike with you an everlasting covenant," through Christ, "the faithful mercies of David." He calls the promises mercies, which God mercifully promised concerning Christ, which the Septuagint calls ὅσια, that is, holy, pious, religious, as Tertullian translates. Where note, the Hebrew חסיד chasid, which the Septuagint translates ὅσιον, that is, holy, signifies pious, merciful, and by metalepsis, holy, because the sign and cause of holiness is piety, or mercy and almsgiving, as I have said elsewhere. See what is said at Isaiah LV, 3.
Verse 35: You Shall Not Give Your Holy One to See Corruption
35. YOU SHALL NOT GIVE YOUR HOLY ONE (Christ and Christ's body) TO SEE CORRUPTION, — that is, putrefaction and reduction to ashes, as I said at chap. II, 31. Whence R. Isaac translates, "a worm or maggot will not have dominion after death." Here "corruption" is taken differently than in the preceding verse, for there it signifies death, here putrefaction: for death is the beginning of corruption and the way to putrefaction.
Verse 36: David in His Generation
36. FOR DAVID IN HIS GENERATION (his age, his life and time) WHEN HE HAD ADMINISTERED (that is, served) THE WILL OF GOD. — For he was a man according to the heart of God, doing all His wishes, vers. 22. The Tigurine, Pagninus and Vatablus translate, when David had ministered to his own generation, that is, had ruled the people of his age, by the will of God he slept. Our version translates better: for it is better said that David served the will of God than his own generation.
HE SLEPT, AND WAS LAID BESIDE HIS FATHERS, — that is, he died, was reckoned in the number of fathers already dead, gathered to the dead, as it were to a tomb and heap; which is said elsewhere: He slept with his fathers, or: He was added to his people, or: He entered the way of all flesh: for this way is death which leads the faithful to immortality.
Verse 37: He Whom God Raised Up Saw No Corruption
37. BUT HE WHOM GOD RAISED UP (namely Christ), SAW NO CORRUPTION, — as if to say: Therefore that passage of the Psalm: "You shall not give Your Holy One to see corruption," pertains to Christ, not to David, inasmuch as he died and was corrupted.
Verse 38: From All From Which You Could Not Be Justified
38. AND FROM ALL THINGS (as if to say: Forgiveness from sins is announced to you, equally as from all the ceremonies and burdens of the old law) FROM WHICH YOU COULD NOT BE JUSTIFIED. — As if to say: Christ has freed you not only from sins, but also from all the ceremonies, which because they were innumerable and heavy, were burdens of the law, not advantages. For those could not justify and save you, but only Christ and His faith, grace and Sacraments.
Verse 39: Everyone Who Believes Is Justified
39. IN HIM (that is, through Him, or in Him, namely Christ) EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES (with faith not dead, but living, which works through charity), IS JUSTIFIED, — not by imputation of the merits and righteousness of Christ, as Calvin argues, but by grace and infused righteousness, which God indeed infuses and implants in the soul on account of the merits of Christ.
Verse 40: In the Prophets
40. IN THE PROPHETS, — in one of the minor Prophets, who among the Hebrews are wont to be joined together in one codex and accordingly also cited together, namely in Habakkuk I, 5.
Verse 41: Behold, You Despisers
41. BEHOLD, YOU DESPISERS. — Paul following the Septuagint reads בוגדים begodim, that is, prevaricators, despisers: but Our version, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion and the Chaldean read בגוים baggoim, that is, among the Gentiles. See what is said at Habakkuk I, 5.
BE UTTERLY DESTROYED. — So read with the Roman text, not "be scattered." So also the Greek has ἀφανίσθητε: for ἀφανίζω means the same as I vanish, am destroyed, am utterly destroyed, am taken from sight.
I WORK A WORK. — Literally this work was the vengeance which God exercised through the Chaldeans upon the impious nations and the impious Jews. Mystically, this work is the blinding, reprobation and perdition of the Jews who rebelled against the faith and the Apostles, and the calling and election of the Gentiles. Less correctly Theophylactus and Hugo take it as Christ's incarnation, Lyranus as His passion and resurrection, Cajetan as baptism.
Verse 42: As They Went Out
42. AND AS THEY WENT OUT, — from the Synagogue, as the Greek has it.
THEY WERE ASKING. — Most Greek codices have, the Gentiles were asking them. By Gentes Gagneius and Cajetan understand the Gentiles; but Chrysostom, Theophylactus and others understand the crowd and multitude of Jews: for to these the Synagogue belonged. It is likely that the 70's "Gentiles" crept from the margin into the text. For Our version, the Syriac and many Greek codices omit it.
ON THE FOLLOWING SABBATH. — Thus also translates the Syriac, Oecumenius, Pagninus, the Tigurine; Vatablus also accedes, who translates, on the intervening, or intermediate sabbath. Wrongly therefore does Scaliger, in Emend. temp., book VI, p. 259, correct the Greek text and so read it: εἰς τὸ μεταξὺ σαββάτων, that is, in the middle of the sabbaths, as if to say: On the weekdays which intervene between two sabbaths.
Verse 43: Of the Worshipping Strangers
43. OF THE WORSHIPING STRANGERS, — that is, of the proselytes, as the Greek has it, who worshiped the true God, not idols, which they had previously worshiped with the rest of the Gentiles. Whence they are called σεβόμενοι, that is, pious, religious, worshipers of God. Some translate σεβόμενοι passively, as cultivated, honored, celebrated, as if they had been illustrious men.
IN THE GRACE OF GOD, — by which prevented they had begun to follow the faith of Christ and the Apostles.
Verse 45: With Zeal
45. WITH ZEAL, — with envy and indignation.
Verse 46: You Judge Yourselves Unworthy
46. YOU JUDGE YOURSELVES UNWORTHY, — and by judging you make yourselves so. For while you judge that the faith of Christ is to be despised, you tacitly also judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. For of that no one is worthy, except he who embraces the faith of Christ.
Verse 47: I Have Set Thee to Be the Light of the Gentiles
47. HE COMMANDED. — For while He foretold through Isaiah that He had decreed and wished that Christ should be the light and salvation of the Gentiles, consequently by this very thing He decreed and willed and commanded the Apostles, whom He destined as heralds of Christ, that they should preach Christ to the Gentiles, and so they may impart His light and salvation to them. For the Apostles were chosen by God for this, that they might be His ministers in this work and the executors of His will.
I HAVE SET, — I will surely set: for prophetically the past is put for the future, on account of the certainty of the future, as if it were no longer future but past. See what was said on Isaiah XLIX, 6.
Verse 48: As Many As Were Preordained to Eternal Life
48. AND AS MANY AS WERE PREORDAINED TO ETERNAL LIFE BELIEVED. — From this passage Dionysius the Carthusian and others contend that the efficacious election of men to glory was made by the free and pure will of God, not from the merits of the elect, indeed before any foresight of them. For the sense is, as if to say: As many as believed, believed for this reason — because from eternity they had been absolutely preordained and predestined by God to eternal life. For the efficacious intention of the end causes the efficacious choice of the means that are necessary for attaining the intended end. Since therefore God had efficaciously preordained them to glory, hence, in order that they might attain this end, He gave to those same persons efficacious means — namely faith and congruous grace — by which they might gain this end.
But whatever may be said of this opinion, certainly it cannot effectively be proved or established from this passage. For first, in place of "preordained," the Greek has τεταγμένοι, that is, they had been ordered and disposed like soldiers in their battle line and rank, namely so that at that time they might be placed in the order and way leading to eternal life. For so the military ranks are called τάξεις. And the Emperor Leo wrote τακτικά, that is, the precepts and manner of arraying a battle line for combat; so that the sense is: They believed, as many as were already ordered and disposed for eternal life — as many, that is, as had a true desire for eternal life infused in them by God, as many as were striving for their salvation, as many as were searching out the manner and way by which they might be able to save themselves and reach eternal life. For seeing that this way was manifestly shown by Paul to be faith in Christ, they straightway laid hold of it and embraced it. Hence what Our [Vulgate translator] rendered as "preordained" does not seem to stand in the way, since it can be expounded from the Greek as the same as "predisposed," namely from their free disposition implanted in them by God, which was, from desire of their own salvation and sincere zeal for the truth, to attend to the preaching of St. Paul, to examine it and see that it was well-founded and in harmony with the oracles of the Prophets, with reason and with truth. So Isidore Clarius, Salmeron, and others. For the word τεταγμένοι is military, and signifies those who, as if enrolled in the census, number, and class of soldiers, under the standard of Christ their commander, were striving by a straight way and in order toward heaven and pressing on to eternal life.
Secondly, the phrase "preordained to eternal life" itself does not express, nor determine, whether this preordination was general, conditional, inchoate, and common to all the faithful, or rather special, absolute, complete, and proper to the elect alone. See canon 13 in the Council of Trent, session 6, where the error of those is anathematized who say that the faithful are certain of their predestination: and this is what these Doctors hold — provided they persevere in obeying God's grace and call right up to the end of life; otherwise if they of their own accord withdraw either from the faith or from the life which faith dictates, they will likewise withdraw from the way of heaven and of eternal life, and will enter upon the way which leads straight to hell. So St. Paul, Ephesians 1, calls all the Ephesian Christians "predestined" and "elect," namely inchoately through faith and grace, not completely: for otherwise he would have assured salvation to them all. So St. Prosper, On Free Will; Salmeron, Stapleton, and Sanchez here; Gabriel Vasquez, vol. I, on III part., disp. XXXIII, ch. XII. They also add that "eternal life" here can be taken metonymically for the way to eternal life, as it is taken in John XVII, 3: "This is eternal life (that is, the way to eternal life), that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." And I John III, 15: "No murderer has eternal life (that is, grace, which is the way to eternal life) abiding in himself." So often in the Gospels the kingdom of heaven is called the Church, because she through the Sacraments, faith, and grace directs us and leads us to heaven. But it is not necessary to say this, since both "way" and "order" are included in the word "preordained."
Furthermore, Calvin wrongly gathers from this passage that all the faithful are predestined, on the ground that faith once received cannot be lost: for many fall away from the faith and become unbelievers; many believers live unbelievingly. Lastly, Arias reads and explains it thus: "They believed (namely the Gentiles) who (no less than the Jews) were preordained to eternal life": for Luke seems to be treating here of the call of the Gentiles. But the Greek is ὅσοι, that is, "as many as," as Our Vulgate, the Tigurine, Pagninus, and many others render it: but "as many as" suggests that not all believed, but only those who were preordained to eternal life.
St. Luke adds this in order to demonstrate the dignity of the faith and of Christianity by its end, scope, and reward — namely that all the faithful who believe and obey Christ have been from eternity preordained, and in time ordered, called, and destined to eternal life, blessed and glorious in the heavens — as if to say: Christianity is the call to the heavenly and eternal life; Christianity is the lifting up of the faithful from earth to heaven; Christianity exalts the faithful from human life to the Evangelical, blessed, and divine life; according to that of II Peter, ch. 1, vers. 3: "Who called us by His own glory and virtue, through whom (Christ) He has given us the greatest and most precious promises, that through these you may be made partakers of the divine nature." And I Peter, ch. 1, vers. 3: "Blessed be God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." And ch. II, vers. 9: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of acquisition, that you may declare the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into His admirable light."
Verse 50: Religious Women
50. RELIGIOUS WOMEN, — namely those zealous for paganism or Judaism, that is, superstitious women, who by the Gentiles and Jews were regarded and called religious. For women are smooth-spoken, pertinacious, alluring, zealous for their faith or perfidy, prone to piety or to its appearance: hence they can either greatly advance the Gospel, if they believe it, or hinder it, if they do not — as here they hindered Paul, indeed drove him out. Hear Anastasius of Nicaea, vol. VI of the Library of the Holy Fathers, Quaest. LXII, § "Everyone who sprinkles": "What is a woman? he says: a lance to the heart, the calumny of the Saints, the rest of a serpent, a kindled furnace, an unbridled mouth, the leader of darkness, the schoolmistress of crimes, a clothed viper, the storm of a house, the shipwreck of a husband, an unrelenting beast," etc. Wherefore St. Jerome, To Ctesiphon, vol. II, teaches that all heresies have been propagated through women. "Simon Magus, he says, founded his heresy with the help of the harlot Helena. Nicolaus of Antioch, the founder of all uncleannesses, led choirs of women. Marcion too sent a woman ahead to Rome for greater lasciviousness. Apelles had Philomene as his companion. Montanus first corrupted Prisca and Maximilla with gold, and then defiled them with heresy. Arius, in order to deceive the world, first deceived the sister of the emperor; Donatus was helped by the wealth of Lucilla. In Spain Agape, a blind woman, led the blind Elpidius into the pit, and had Priscillian as her successor, to whom Galla joined herself, leaving as heir of another and neighboring heresy."
Verse 51: Shaking Off the Dust of Their Feet
51. BUT THEY, SHAKING OFF THE DUST OF THEIR FEET AGAINST THEM. — Christ had commanded the Apostles to do this with those who would not receive the Gospel, Matthew X, 14. And this, first, as a sign of the Gospel being despised by them; second, that they might signify that they had undertaken a journey, so many troubles and fatigues, in vain for these alone; third, that they might carry away with them nothing from the land of impious men, as accursed and anathematized; nor share anything with them. So in III Kings XIII, 9, the Prophet sent by God into Bethel to the idolaters was commanded to return by another way, as if his own straight way into Bethel were polluted, lest a faithful and holy man should even have a way in common with the unbelievers. So here they shake off the dust, as impious — being that of an impious city — and this against the impious inhabitants, that by this sign they may denote them to be as it were anathema, execrated, and liable to eternal damnation, and accordingly that they wish to have nothing of theirs, not even dust, clinging to them. Fourth, that this dust, shaken off into the air, may as it were cry out to heaven for vengeance, and on the day of judgment may rise up as a witness and accuser against the unbelievers. Hence Christ adds, "for a testimony against them," Luke IX, 5. And: "It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than for that city," Matthew X, 15. So St. Jerome, Hilary, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Bede, and others on the same passage. So St. Francis Xavier, when the prefect of Malacca had been excommunicated for hindering his journey into China, immediately departed from Malacca. "At the city gate, having shaken the dust from his sandals (as Christ had commanded the Apostles), he announced to the city heavenly wrath and many grave disasters. And the outcome answered the announcement. For shortly the city was emptied by famine, wars, and diseases, so that it was almost reduced to a wilderness," says Tursellinus, in book V of his Life, ch. VII.
ICONIUM. — A famous city in Lycaonia at the foot of Mount Taurus, concerning which Pliny, book V, ch. XXVII. There is another of the same name: but the former is treated of here.
Verse 52: The Disciples Were Filled With Joy
52. THE DISCIPLES TOO WERE FILLED WITH JOY. — For God is wont to inspire this in the faithful in time of persecution, especially when they see the constancy and alacrity of their teachers in it (as here of Paul and Barnabas).
AND WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, — namely, with the strength of faith, hope, and charity, and of the other gifts of the Holy Spirit. "For virtue, agitated by adversities, grows": both because adversities are spurs to a sharper struggle and to gathering strength; and because God repays this congruous reward to the merit of patience, so as to add courage and increase strength for His athlete striving generously.