Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
At Antioch a question arises whether Gentile Christians ought to be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses. To resolve it, Paul together with Barnabas is sent to the Apostles at Jerusalem. The Apostles convene the first Council, in which they reply and define that Christians are not bound by the Law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas bring this reply back to Antioch; and shortly afterwards, having separated — Paul taking Silas, Barnabas taking John Mark — they go on to evangelize the Gentiles.
Vulgate Text: Acts 15:1-41
1. And some coming down from Judea taught the brethren: Unless you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. 2. And when Paul and Barnabas had no small contest with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of the other side, should go up to the Apostles and Presbyters at Jerusalem about this question. 3. They therefore being brought on their way by the Church, passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, relating the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. 4. And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received by the Church, and by the Apostles and elders, declaring how great things God had done with them. 5. But there arose certain of the sect of the Pharisees that believed, saying: They must be circumcised, and be commanded to observe the law of Moses. 6. And the Apostles and elders assembled to consider of this matter. 7. And when there had been much disputing, Peter, rising up, said to them: Men, brethren, you know that in former days God made choice among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe. 8. And God, who knoweth the hearts, gave testimony, giving unto them the Holy Spirit, as well as to us; 9. and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10. Now therefore why tempt you God, to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11. But by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we believe to be saved, in like manner as they also. 12. And all the multitude held their peace; and they heard Barnabas and Paul telling what great signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 13. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying: Men, brethren, hear me. 14. Simon hath related how God first visited to take of the Gentiles a people for His name. 15. And to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written: 16. After these things I will return, and will rebuild the tabernacle of David which is fallen down; and the ruins thereof I will rebuild, and I will set it up; 17. that the residue of men may seek after the Lord, and all nations upon whom My name is invoked, saith the Lord, who doth these things. 18. To the Lord was His own work known from the beginning of the world. 19. For which cause I judge that they who from among the Gentiles are converted to God are not to be disquieted; 20. but that we write unto them that they refrain themselves from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. 21. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him in the synagogues, where he is read every sabbath. 22. Then it pleased the Apostles and elders, with the whole Church, to choose men of their own company, and to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas, who was surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren, 23. writing by their hands: The Apostles and elders, brethren, to the brethren of the Gentiles that are at Antioch, and in Syria, and Cilicia, greeting. 24. Forasmuch as we have heard that some going out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, to whom we gave no commandment, 25. it hath seemed good to us, being assembled together, to choose out men, and to send them unto you, with our well-beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26. men that have given their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also will, by word of mouth, report the same things. 28. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things; 29. that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which keeping yourselves, you shall do well. Farewell. 30. They therefore, being dismissed, went down to Antioch, and gathering the multitude together, they delivered the epistle. 31. Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. 32. But Judas and Silas, being themselves also Prophets, comforted the brethren with many words and confirmed them. 33. And after they had spent some time there, they were dismissed in peace by the brethren to those that had sent them. 34. But it seemed good to Silas to remain there: and Judas alone departed to Jerusalem. 35. And Paul and Barnabas continued at Antioch, teaching and preaching with many others the word of the Lord. 36. And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas: Let us return and visit our brethren in all the cities in which we have preached the word of the Lord, to see how they do. 37. And Barnabas wished to take with him John also, who was surnamed Mark. 38. But Paul desired that he (as one who had departed from them out of Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work) should not be received. 39. And there arose a dissension, so that they departed one from another, and Barnabas indeed, taking Mark, sailed to Cyprus. 40. But Paul, having chosen Silas, departed, being delivered by the brethren to the grace of God. 41. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the Churches: commanding them to keep the precepts of the Apostles and the Elders.
Verse 1: Coming Down from Judea
1. AND CERTAIN MEN COMING DOWN FROM JUDEA. — The Jews therefore were the authors of this dispute and controversy: for, contending for their Judaism, they pretended that the Messiah had been promised and sent to the Jews alone, and likewise His grace and salvation; and consequently that the Gentiles were not capable of the Messiah and of Christianity unless they first became Jews. The author of these men was Cerinthus, as Epiphanius testifies, heresy 28, and Philastrius, book On Heretics, chapter viii: "This man, he says, under the Apostles stirred up a seditious question, saying that men ought to be circumcised: on whose account, against him and his heresy, the Apostles in their Acts decreed the sentence that men ought no longer to obey carnal Judaism, that is, circumcision and other such things of vain superstition, who coming from the Gentiles believed in Christ our Lord and Savior." St. Augustine has the same in his Catalogue of Heresies, and St. Jerome, epistle 89. Hence Cerinthus also stirred up the faithful against St. Peter because he had baptized Cornelius, as we have seen in chapter x; and again he stirred up the Jews to seize Paul as an enemy of Judaism, as we shall hear in chapter xxi. A follower of Cerinthus was Ebion, who falsely claimed Paul to be a Gentile but to have become a proselyte so that he might at Jerusalem take the daughter of the priest as a wife: but, frustrated of this hope, became an enemy of the Jews and of Judaism. So Epiphanius, heresy 30.
BECAUSE UNLESS YOU BE CIRCUMCISED. — Under "circumcision," by synecdoche, understand the whole law of Moses and of Judaism, for its beginning, entrance, and profession was circumcision, just as baptism is of the new law and of Christianity, as the Apostle teaches, Galatians chapter v, verse 3.
ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM OF MOSES. — Prescribed by Moses in the law. Hence the Syriac translates, "by the rite of the law."
Verse 2: When a Sedition Had Arisen
2. WHEN THEREFORE A SEDITION HAD ARISEN. — In Greek στάσεως καὶ συζητήσεως, that is, when contention and disputation had arisen: for στάσις signifies not only sedition, but also secession, dissension, discord, struggle, contention: and so Our Translator here takes "sedition" for secession and sharp contention, as if to say that Paul and Barnabas seceded from and dissented with Cerinthus and the Judaizers, and contended sharply against them that the Gentiles ought not to be circumcised or observe the legal observances. Hence the Syriac translates, "a very great tumult and dispute arose." For from the clamorous contention of the litigating parties arises tumult, schism, and sedition. It is a catachresis and metalepsis: for sedition is put for contention, from which it usually follows: otherwise Paul cannot properly be called seditious, but rather Cerinthus and the Judaizers: yet with seditious men one must act seditiously; for just as war is not repulsed except by war, so tumult only by tumult, sedition only by sedition, contention only by contention is overcome and quieted. For unless Catholics strongly oppose heretics, and call all their own to their side to resist, they will be overwhelmed by the faction and fury of the heretics. For sedition is so called as it were "a going apart" (seorsum itio). Hence Cicero, book VI On the Republic, chapter VII, declares that sedition is named from the dissension of citizens, because some go apart against others. The same, in the third action against Verres: "A bad citizen, he says, a wicked Consul, a seditious man was Cneius Carbo." Therefore sedition is good or bad, according as the cause is good or bad. Finally, this sedition is to be attributed rather to the people than to Paul, as if to say: The faithful people, hearing the yoke of the law which the Judaizers wanted to impose on them, stirred up tumult and sedition, and tumultuously rose against Paul and Barnabas, and forced them to rise up against the Judaizers and to defend the Christian liberty of the people.
THAT PAUL SHOULD GO UP. — With Titus, says Theodoret, whom Cerinthus and his followers especially attacked, because, although he was a Gentile and converted to Christ by Paul, he had nevertheless not been circumcised, as the Apostle says, Galatians II, 1. Where he also asserts that he went up to Jerusalem not only sent by the Antiochians, but also according to revelation, that is, having received an oracle and command of God, in order that he might compare the Gospel which he preached to the Gentiles with the Apostles, lest the Jews should be able to accuse him as a posthumous follower of Christ dissenting from the Apostles, who had lived with Christ and been taught by Him.
TO THE APOSTLES, — St. Peter, James, and John, as is clear from Galatians II, 9; for the other Apostles were dispersed throughout the world. John could easily be summoned from Ephesus, as also Matthias and any others who lived in nearby places. James was present, as Bishop of Jerusalem. For the other James, son of Zebedee, brother of John, had long since been killed; St. Peter, expelled from Rome with the other Jews by Claudius, as is clear from chapter xviii, verse 2, had likewise returned to Jerusalem as the mother-city of the faithful, by God's nod. Therefore this Council consisted of the three principal Apostles. So Baronius. St. Clement adds, book VI of the Constitutions, chapter XII, that all twelve Apostles dispersed throughout the world came together at Jerusalem by God's prompting, and settled this question. But this presents a great difficulty. For James the son of Zebedee, who was one of the twelve Apostles, and whom Clement expressly names a little later, chapter xiv, could not have been present at this Council, having been killed long before by Herod. Wherefore this book is judged apocryphal by Baronius, Bellarmine, and others. For also in book III, chapter vi, he distinguishes Mary Magdalene from Mary the sister of Lazarus, although it is clear they were one and the same; in book III, chapter II, he calls fourth marriages lust and manifest unchastity; in book VII, chapter xxiv, he commands that the feast of the Sabbath be observed equally with the Lord's day; in book VI, chapter xiv, he places James, the brother of the Lord and first Bishop of Jerusalem, outside the number of the twelve Apostles, and posits three Jameses, the first the son of Zebedee, the second the son of Alphaeus, whom he says were Apostles, the third the brother of the Lord, whom he denies to have been an Apostle but asserts to have been only a Bishop. Granted that our Turrianus contends to mitigate and excuse these things, who judges these books to be genuine and uncorrupted works of St. Clement.
AND THE ELDERS. — Both priests and Bishops. For the Bishops alone are judges, and have the right of suffrage in a Council; the Presbyters, however, are present as counselors and teachers, who debate and explain the controversy on both sides, so that the Bishops may then decide it. See Bellarmine, book I On Councils, chapters xv and xvi.
Verse 5: There Arose Certain of the Sect of the Pharisees
5. BUT THERE AROSE CERTAIN. — These words can be taken either as those of Paul and Barnabas, or as Luke's: as those of Paul and Barnabas, if with the Syriac you supply "but they say," as if they were here beginning to set forth their own controversy with the Jews; as Luke's, if we say that, while Paul was speaking and celebrating the conversion of the Gentiles, his adversaries arose and accused him of admitting the Gentiles to Christianity without however compelling them to be circumcised and first become Jews. The plain words of Luke seem to bear this second sense; and it is likely that Paul's accusers and enemies, while he was speaking and pleading his cause, did not keep silent. Yet the narrative itself, and the connection of the history, seem to require the first sense. For Paul speaking plainly seems also to have set forth the state of the controversy on account of which he was sent. And the word "them" demands this, when he adds: "saying that they must be circumcised": whom? Surely the Gentiles, whose conversion Paul was celebrating. For the Hebrews often leave the subject or substantive noun to be understood from the circumstance of the history. The same is required by the narrative of this history which St. Peter gives in St. Clement, book VI of the Apostolic Constitutions, chapter XII.
AND CERTAIN OTHERS FROM OTHERS. — From the opposite party of Cerinthus and the Judaizers, so that each of the two dissenting parties might present its reasons to the Apostles, and after hearing them, they themselves might pronounce sentence and decide the dispute. Less rightly do some understand by "others" Titus and others adhering to Paul and Barnabas. For ἄλλοι ἐξ ἄλλων signifies that they were from the opposite side; and in a judgment both parties must be heard. So Mariana.
OF THE HERESY (sect) OF THE PHARISEES. — This was the principal sect of Judaism, which therefore fought more keenly for Judaism, even after conversion to Christ, in order to defend its own nobility, which it had possessed and received from Judaism. These Pharisees had stirred up the lawsuit against Paul at Antioch, and would likewise be plaintiffs against him, either in person, or through their associates with the Apostles. But if according to the second sense already given you prefer that they were at Jerusalem, say that they had been suborned by the Antiochene Jews, Paul's enemies, to plead the cause of Judaism against Paul at Jerusalem. For the Pharisees were honored among the Jews, and consequently also among the Christians, inasmuch as they had come forth from the Jews.
THAT THEY BE CIRCUMCISED. — The Gentiles, whose cause was being treated here, and whom he named in verse 3, and in the preceding chapter, verse 26.
AND TO COMMAND THEM TO OBSERVE (that is, that the Gentiles observe) THE LAW OF MOSES. — Just as the Jews observe it.
Verse 6: The Apostles and Elders Came Together
6. AND THE APOSTLES AND ELDERS CAME TOGETHER. — That is, the Presbyters, of whom verse II speaks. This therefore was the first assembly of the Church and the first Council, in which the cause of Christianity against Judaism was treated. Now this Council was celebrated in the 14th year from St. Paul's conversion, as he himself says in Galatians chapter II, verse 1, which was the 16th year from Christ's passion, the 51st from His birth, the ninth of the Emperor Claudius, in which year the Jews were expelled by Claudius from Rome, and consequently St. Peter, as Orosius relates, book VII of his Histories, chapter vi. So Baronius, Bellarmine in his Chronology; Lorinus and Pererius, preface to the Epistle to the Romans, disputation 1, number 34; although St. Jerome and others, counting those 14 years not from the conversion of St. Paul, but from the three years after it spent at Damascus in Arabia, concerning which Galatians I, 18, judge this Council to have been celebrated three years later, namely in the 17th year from St. Paul's conversion, which was the year of Christ 54, of the Emperor Claudius 12 or 13. See what is said on Galatians II, 1. Thus after about three hundred years, namely in the year of Christ 325, the second Council was celebrated, namely the First of Nicaea, under the Emperor Constantine and Pope Sylvester, in which the cause of the divinity of Christ against Arius was treated. Then after 56 years, namely in the year of Christ 381, under Theodosius the Elder, the third Ecumenical Council was celebrated, namely the First of Constantinople, in which the cause of the divinity of the Holy Spirit against Macedonius was treated. The fourth general Council was Ephesus, celebrated in the year of the Lord 430, in which the cause of the one person in Christ against Nestorius was treated. The fifth was Chalcedon under Pope Leo I and Emperor Marcian, in the year of the Lord 451, in which the cause of the two natures in Christ against Eutyches was treated. To these last four Councils St. Gregory wished honor to be given as to the four Gospels.
Verse 7: Peter Rising Up
7. PETER RISING UP. — As the prince of the Apostles and primate of the Church, who, when he had heard the controversy disputed on both sides, here first, as judge, defines it. Hence soon St. James and all the others follow his sentence. So St. Jerome, epistle 89, which is among St. Augustine's epistles, chapter III, where he says that Peter was the chief of this decree. And Theodoret, epistle to Pope Leo: "If Paul, he says, the herald of truth, the trumpet of the Holy Spirit, ran to the great Peter, that from him he might bring a solution to those who were contending at Antioch about the legal institutions; much more do we who are abject and small run to your Apostolic see, that we may receive medicine for the wounds of the Churches from you. For it befits you to be first in all things."
BECAUSE FROM ANCIENT DAYS. — That is, long ago, for a long time, of old; firstly, in the exercised act, from the conversion of Cornelius, which happened around the year of Christ 37, as I have shown in chapter x, at the end: for from there, counting up to the year of Christ 51, when Peter said these things, fourteen years had elapsed, of which it can rightly be said "from ancient days," that is, from the beginning of the nascent Gospel and preaching among the Gentiles. Secondly, in the signified act, Matthew xvi, 18, where Peter heard from Christ: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church." And Christ said this around the 33rd year of His life, that is, eighteen years before. Some explain, "from ancient days," that is, from eternity. So Prosper, book II On the Calling of the Gentiles, chapter xviii. But less genuinely.
GOD CHOSE AMONG US BY MY MOUTH. — As if to say: God chose me among us as the first and chief Apostle, by whose mouth the Gentiles might hear the Gospel and believe. St. Chrysostom, instead of "among us," reads "among you," and explains it as "in Palestine," or "in your presence."
Verse 8: God Who Knows Hearts
8. AND GOD WHO KNOWS HEARTS, — ὁ καρδιογνώστης Θεός, that is, God who is cardiognostes, that is, searcher and inspector of the secrets of the heart, namely He knows that the hearts of the Gentiles believing the Gospel sincerely seek God and their own salvation, and therefore are capable of grace, justice, and salvation brought by Christ; and consequently that they are to be admitted to the Church and Christianity. Hence also of this sincerity and capacity He "gave testimony, giving them the Holy Spirit," in the visible form of fire or fiery tongues, "as also to us," as He gave to Cornelius and his family, Acts x, 44.
Verse 9: Purifying Their Hearts by Faith
9. AND HE PUT NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND THEM — That is, between Jews and Gentiles, as regards grace, justice, and salvation, as if to say: God is not a respecter of persons, that He should prefer Jews to Gentiles in Christianity.
PURIFYING THEIR HEARTS BY FAITH. — He meets the objection of the Judaizers; for they were saying: The Gentiles are impure, as idolaters and wicked: therefore they are not to be admitted to the purity of Christianity. Peter answers that the Gentiles were impure in Gentilism, but God has purified them through faith both from idolatry and from crimes: for through faith they have recognized that idols are false gods, and that the true God is one in essence and triune in persons. Again, through faith they are purified, that is, justified from sins. Understand faith, not bare faith, but faith exerting itself in acts of hope, contrition, charity, observance of the commandments, and good works; or, as Paul says, faith which works through charity. See canons 2 and 3 on St. Paul.
Verse 10: Why Tempt You God?
10. NOW THEREFORE WHY DO YOU TEMPT GOD? — He tempts God who calls into doubt His clear and certain sayings and commands. For such a man tempts God, [asking] whether He has truly and seriously, not in jest, said and commanded this; or whether in His sayings and commands He is firm and constant, as if to say: God has clearly and certainly manifested that His will is that the Gentiles be admitted to Christianity, since He has visibly sent the Holy Spirit upon them; why therefore, O Judaizers, do you call this into doubt, and so tempt God, [asking] whether He seriously wills this, or stands firm and perseveres in His will? For that would be to make God a jester and ridiculous, this would make Him fickle and inconstant. Secondly, you tempt God: because you try to bend His recognized will to yours, which is contrary, so that, against what He has decreed, He may impose the yoke of the law on the Gentiles, because you so wish and desire. Thirdly, says Cajetan, "you tempt God," that is, you provoke Him to anger and vengeance, while you wish to test whether He can and will avenge the unbelief and injury which by not believing in Him you inflict upon Him.
TO IMPOSE, — ἐπιθεῖναι. The Zurich version and Pagninus translate, "that it may be imposed," namely by God, or, "that God may impose on them the almost unbearable yoke of the law": which St. Augustine, sermon 9 On the Words of the Lord, calls a burden of innumerable observances, by which the stiff neck of the Jews had to be pressed down, lest it look back to idols and idolaters. Rabbi Moses, book III of the Guide for the Perplexed, chapter vi, numbers the affirmative precepts of the law as 218, as many as there are members in a man, and the negative as 365, that is, as many as there are days in a year. Now Christ did not abolish the Decalogue, that is, the moral and natural precepts of the law, but only the ceremonial and judicial: for in place of all the intricate ceremonies of the law He gave an abbreviated word, that is, the shortest precept of faith and love, says St. Jerome on Isaiah x.
WHICH NEITHER WE WERE ABLE TO BEAR. — That is, with difficulty, with hardship we bore it: take "morally impossible" here therefore as "very difficult": for God does not command physically impossible things, for tyrants do this. Wherefore many bore this yoke of the law, like Elizabeth and Zechariah, of whom it is said in Luke chapter I, 6, that "they were just before God, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord blamelessly." The same is said of David, Acts XIII, 22; of Joshua, XI, 15; of Josiah, IV Kings XXIII, 25, and others.
Verse 11: By the Grace of Jesus Christ We Are Saved
11. BUT BY THE GRACE OF JESUS CHRIST WE BELIEVE WE ARE SAVED, IN LIKE MANNER AS THEY ALSO, — namely our fathers the Jews: therefore much more can the Gentiles be saved only through the grace of Christ. Hence it is clear that no one has been justified since the fall of Adam, except through the grace of Christ. Therefore the Pelagians erred, who taught that "men before the law were saved by nature, then by the law, lastly by Christ, evacuating what is said, I Timothy chapter II, verse 5: One God, and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus," says St. Augustine, book II Against the Second Epistle of the Pelagians, chapter xxi.
Verse 12: All the Multitude Was Silent
12. AND ALL THE MULTITUDE WAS SILENT. — By this silence reverencing Peter and approving his sayings, they acquiesced in the definition of his sentence, and Paul and Barnabas confirmed it, "relating how great signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles through them."
Verse 13: James Answered
13. JAMES ANSWERED, — that is, he began first after Peter to give sentence, and to strengthen Peter's sentence: for he himself was Bishop of Jerusalem (where this Council was held). Hence it was fitting that he speak first after Peter. Therefore Abulensis, on Matthew chapter xvii, Question XIII, on 1, whom Calvin follows, incautiously and falsely judges that James as Bishop of Jerusalem presided over this Council, and as greater than Peter pronounced the definitive sentence. For Peter had pronounced this before James, which James followed, adding however a few things which would placate the Jews, of whom he himself was Bishop, and reconcile the Gentiles. Furthermore Rupert, book I on Canticles, rightly judges that the Blessed Virgin, as it were teacher of the Apostles, defined this whole question, not that she herself was present at the Council (for this did not befit a woman), but that, privately consulted by the Apostles, she first pronounced this sentence.
Verse 14: Simon Hath Related
14. SIMON — Peter: for he who previously was called Simon was called by Christ Cephas, that is Peter, John I, 42. In Greek it is Συμεών. Therefore Simon and Simeon are the same name; for the Hebrews say שמעון with a quiescent sheva; but the Septuagint makes that sheva mobile, and they say Συμεών, as is clear in Genesis chapter xxix, verse 33. Now the Hebrew Simon is the same as "hearing, obeying," from the root שמע shama, that is, "he heard, obeyed." But Toletus, on John chapter I, annotation 64, derives it from the root שמן shaman, that is, "he made fat," so that Simon is the same as "fat," or "fattened with the oil and grace of the Holy Spirit."
FIRST, — that is, first of all, or from ancient days, as Peter [said] in verse 7.
GOD HAS VISITED TO TAKE OUT OF THE GENTILES A PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME. — It is a Hebrew metathesis or transposition of words; for they seem to be ordered thus: God has visited among the Gentiles, that is, the Gentiles, that He might take from them a people for His name. He alludes to the Canticle of Zechariah: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because He has visited and wrought the redemption of His people," Luke I, 68. For God visited the wretched, blind, and lost Gentiles, as a teacher, physician, and savior, when through Peter and the Apostles He imbued them with the faith and grace of Christ, by which they were justified from sins and saved. St. Cyprian, book II Against the Jews, chapter VII, for "visited" reads "looked upon"; others, "provided"; others, "thought of, destined"; others, "considered, inspected." For all these are signified by the Greek ἐπεσκέψατο, and the Hebrew פקד pakad.
FOR HIS NAME, — that is, for Himself. For the name of God is God named, by metonymy. So it is said in Proverbs xviii, 10: "The name of the Lord is a most strong tower," that is, the Lord named and invoked. Hence he adds: "the just runs to it, and shall be exalted": for he runs to God, and is exalted by Him, not by the name of God. Secondly, "for His name," namely he who invokes the name of God, and in turn is called by the name of God, that is, the Church and people of God. So the Gloss, Hugo, and Vatablus. Thirdly, "for His name," that is, for His name, praise, and glory, namely [a people] through whom the name of God may be praised and glorified.
Verse 15: Of the Prophets
15. OF THE PROPHETS, — the prophet Amos, chapter IX, verses 11 and 12. It is an enallage of the plural number for the singular.
Verse 16: I Will Rebuild the Tabernacle of David
16. I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID, — that is, the Church, in which Christ the son of David dwells and reigns, of which the type of old was the tribe of Judah with Benjamin, in which David fixed his tabernacle and seat as king and ruler. For Judah clung to God, while the other tribes turned aside to idols and golden calves. This tabernacle fell among the unbelieving Jews who refused to receive Christ; it was raised up in the Apostles and other believers from Judea; but plainly restored from the Gentiles, who in place of the Jews were built into this tabernacle and house of God, from the whole world as living stones. So St. Jerome, on Amos IX, 11. See what is said there.
Verse 18: Known from Eternity to the Lord Is His Work
18. KNOWN FROM ETERNITY TO THE LORD IS HIS WORK. — As if to say: God from eternity most wisely pre-thought, pre-disposed, and predestined this work of building the tabernacle of David, that is, of Christ, namely of the Christian Church to be built from the Gentiles, even though to you, O Jews, this seems new and paradoxical: therefore acquiesce in God's most wise arrangement, and do not repel the Gentiles from Christianity by compelling them to Judaism, as if through it they must be made capable of Christianity: because if you do this, you will resist God and God's predestination, but in vain. For God, with you unwilling and badly mulcted, will perfect this His work, which He decreed from eternity to do. Note: "saeculum" does not here signify a span of one hundred years, which is called a saeculum from senility, as it were the span of men growing old, says Varro, book V On the Latin Language; but saeculum here is eternity, which in Hebrew is called olam, in Greek αἰών.
Verse 19: Not to Be Disquieted
19. NOT TO BE DISQUIETED. — μὴ παρενοχλεῖν, that is, not to be disturbed, or troubled. So Pagninus and the Zurich version. Or, that trouble is not to be added; or, that business is not to be presented to them. So Vatablus.
Verse 20: That They Abstain from the Pollutions of Idols, Fornication, Things Strangled, and Blood
20. BUT TO WRITE TO THEM, THAT THEY ABSTAIN FROM THE POLLUTIONS OF IDOLS, — that is, from things sacrificed to idols, namely from meats and foods which had been offered to idols, and were therefore reckoned contaminated; he who ate them was reckoned a partaker of the immolation and idolatry, and consequently to be an idolater. See what is said on I Corinthians viii, at the beginning of the chapter.
AND FROM FORNICATION, — because the Gentiles thought that simple fornication was not a sin, at least not mortal: hence they had to be expressly taught the contrary. Guido the Carmelite attributes the same error to the Greeks. Moreover Durandus, in IV, Distinction xxxiii, Question II, teaches that fornication is not a mortal sin by the law of nature, but by positive law, both divine and human. But it is certain that it is also a mortal sin by the law of nature, both for other reasons and because it is repugnant to the rearing of good offspring, and to matrimony itself. So St. Thomas, II II, Question CLIV, article 2, and others everywhere.
AND FROM THINGS STRANGLED, — both because the Gentiles thought that strangled things were the food of demons, says Origen, book VIII Against Celsus; and because in strangled things the blood is not pressed out, but still remains, the eating of which is forbidden, for reasons soon to be given; and because the Jews abhorred strangled things by the prescript of the law. So that the Jews therefore should not abhor the Gentiles, these too are commanded to abstain from things strangled and from blood. Note here that Christians are forbidden the eating of strangled things and blood, not because the law of Moses forbade these to the Jews, as if that law were still binding and were to be extended also to the Gentiles: for both are false: for shortly before both Peter and James declared that the law and the legal observances do not bind Christians: but because their eating had been forbidden by God before the law to Noah and his posterity, shortly after the flood, Genesis ix, 4. This positive precept therefore which He had once given to the whole world, here God renews to the Gentiles, that He might reconcile them with the Jews who observed it. So St. Augustine, book XXXII Against Faustus, chapter XIII. Otherwise, as I have said, the law about not eating or touching unclean animals, given Leviticus xi, was abrogated in the new law by Christ. Hence also the Rabbis, in Midrash Tehillim, that is in the explanation of the Psalms, on that verse, Psalm CXLV: "The Lord looses those that are bound," write that in the coming of the Messiah the Hebrews will eat all foods without distinction.
AND FROM BLOOD. — Cyril of Jerusalem gives the reason, Catechesis 4, that the faithful might withdraw from the custom of the Barbarians. "Many, he says, savage and inhuman men living in the manner of dogs lap up blood like beasts, etc.; but you, servant of the Lord God, when you eat, eat with religion": as if here only it were forbidden to lap blood in the manner of dogs. So also Justin, in Question chapter CXIV: "That God might separate us, he says, from the likeness of beasts." For the Scythians and Tartars are accustomed, in thirst, to open the vein of the horse on which they sit, and drink its blood. Hence Martial, in the Amphitheatre:
The Sarmatian came too, fed on the horse he had drained.
And Claudian, in Rufinum:
And the bold Massagetan who wounds horn-footed steeds for his cups. ---
And Pliny, book XVIII, chapter x: "The Sarmatians, he says, are nourished with this porridge, and also with raw flour mixed with horse milk or blood from the leg veins." Moreover even the Romans, in ratifying a treaty, mutually drank blood, as Sallust writes about Catiline. I gave other reasons in Genesis ix, 4, where I also said that here every eating or drinking of blood whatsoever, in whatever manner it is done, is prohibited.
Tropologically, by "blood" is forbidden homicide (indeed Tertullian judges that this is here forbidden literally, in the book On Modesty; and Cyprian, in the book to Quirinus, reads, "from the effusion of blood"); by "strangled," violence and rapine; by "things sacrificed to idols," idolatry. Hence when of old the Gentiles accused the Christians of killing infants and drinking their blood, because they had heard something about the Eucharist in which under the species of bread and wine the body and blood of Christ are eaten and drunk, and understood it cruelly and carnally, just like the Capharnaites, John vi, 60 and 61, the Christians refute and convince them by this law. Hear St. Blandina the martyr in Eusebius, book V, chapter I: "You err greatly, she says, O men, in thinking that those eat the flesh of infants who do not even use the blood of dumb animals." And Minucius Felix, in the Octavius: "For us, he says, it is lawful neither to see nor hear of homicide: and we so beware of human blood, that we do not even know the blood of edible cattle as food."
This law was abolished by usage when the dissension of Jews and Gentiles ceased, when both plainly coalesced into one Church. Hence St. Augustine, in the place already cited, writes that in his time it was no longer in use, namely among his own people of Hippo and other neighboring Africans: for some, after the age of St. Augustine, in reverence of the Apostles who had borne it, observed it, especially the Greeks (who still observe it now), as is clear from the Council of Gangra, chapter II, and the Emperor Leo, in Novella Constitution 58, where he renews this law of the Apostles: moreover some Latins also, like the Aurelianenses, to whom this is decreed in the Second Council of Orleans, chapter xx, and the Wormatienses, Moguntines and other Germans, as is clear from the Council of Worms, chapter LXV; and from Pope Zacharias, in the epistle to Boniface. But now for many hundreds of years that law has been abolished by contrary usage everywhere among the nations (except the Greeks). Hence now we eat blood in sausages, which are made from the intestines of pigs and oxen stuffed with blood.
Verse 21: For Moses
21. FOR MOSES. — James says this to placate the opposite party, namely the Judaizers fighting for Moses and the law. There is no need for us Christians to be solicitous about honoring Moses and the law; for Moses and the law are sufficiently honored and celebrated by the Jews in their Synagogues. Therefore let the Jews who zealously cherish the honor of Moses go to his synagogues and there celebrate him: for it is enough for us Christians in the Church to celebrate Christ, to whom Moses sent us back, Deuteronomy xviii, 18, and His law. Therefore let the Jews be the heralds of Moses, but the Christians of Christ. So St. Chrysostom.
Verse 22: With the Whole Church
22. WITH THE WHOLE CHURCH, — which did not establish the decree of the Council, but approved and disseminated what was established by the Apostles. Hence the Epistle is written in the name of the Apostles, and in it they themselves speak, not the Church.
WITH PAUL AND BARNABAS, — who had been one party in this controversy: hence so that the opposite party may believe them, Silas and Judas are joined to them, who carry the decree of the Apostles, and signify to Paul and Barnabas the cause adjudicated by them.
JUDAS, WHO WAS SURNAMED BARSABAS. — This Judas is different from Joseph; perhaps he was his brother: for each is surnamed "Barsabas"; Judas here, Joseph in chapter I, verse 23.
AND SILAS. — Silas in Hebrew signifies "Apostle," says St. Jerome, epistle 143, where he also judges him to be the same as Silvanus, the companion of St. Paul, II Corinthians I, 1. For that this Silas was a companion of St. Paul's apostolate will be clear in verse 40, and the following chapter, verse 19, and chapter xvii, verse 4. He is enrolled in the catalogue of Saints in the Roman Martyrology, on July 13, where these eulogies are given him: "In Macedonia, blessed Silas, who, being of the first brethren and destined by the Apostles to the Churches of the Gentiles together with Paul and Barnabas, full of the grace of God, urgently completed the office of preaching, and afterwards in his sufferings glorifying Christ, rested."
CHIEF MEN, — ἡγουμένους, that is, principal, preceding, preeminent, and as it were leaders of the rest. So Pagninus, the Zurich version, and others. Thus Paul, Romans xvi, 7, calls them "of note among the Apostles," that is, among the Apostles.
Verse 23: Writing by Their Hands
23. WRITING BY THEIR HANDS. — Not that the hands and fingers of Saul and Silas wrote these letters, the Apostles dictating, but that they carried the letters written by the Apostles as messengers to the Antiochene faithful. So we write "by the courier," that is, we send a written epistle. It is a metalepsis.
Verse 24: Have Troubled You
24. HAVE TROUBLED YOU. — The Syriac: "have terrified," or "have struck terror," as if in Christianity salvation were not safe, unless Judaism were taken on at the same time.
Verse 25: Subverting Your Souls
25. SUBVERTING YOUR SOULS, — that is, destroying the peace and quiet of your souls, which you have in Christ and His faith, while they say that Christ and the Gospel are not sufficient for salvation unless Moses and the law be added to it. Hence the Greek and Syriac add: "commanding you to be circumcised, and to keep the law." Of heretics and schismatics it is proper to overturn and destroy souls. Such was Novatian, the antipope and rival of St. Cornelius the Pontiff, whom St. Cyprian in his first epistle to Cornelius marks with these titles: "deserter of the Church, enemy of mercy, slayer of penance, teacher of pride, corrupter of truth, betrayer of charity."
Verse 26: They Have Given Up Their Souls
26. THEY HAVE GIVEN UP THEIR SOULS, — that is, themselves and their lives, that they may either by laboring and preaching, or by dying, expend and spend them for Christ and His glory. Thus says the Psalmist, Psalm cxviii: "My soul is in my hands always," that is, as the Chaldean expounds it: "My soul is in danger, as if it were upon the surface of my hand," exposed as prey to anyone passing by. He therefore who sincerely and ardently loves Christ ought to be lavish with his soul, that he may expose his life and health to danger for Him, nay rather squander and lose them when the matter requires.
Verse 28: It Has Seemed Good to the Holy Spirit and to Us
28. FOR IT HAS SEEMED GOOD TO THE HOLY SPIRIT AND TO US, — that is, it has seemed good to us inspired and directed by the Holy Spirit: it is a hendiadys. Hence it is clear that the Holy Spirit is present in the Council and presides over it, and directs it, so that it may not err in deciding. Whence the Fathers in Council are accustomed to say: "This Holy Synod, lawfully gathered in the Holy Spirit, decrees," etc.
NOTHING BEYOND, — from the Mosaic law: for from the Decalogue, or the law of nature, just as from the law of Christ, He neither willed nor was able to absolve them.
Verse 29: You Will Do Well
29. YOU WILL DO WELL, — that is, you will act rightly and in a Christian manner, or you will live happily. Whence the Syriac translates: "and when you have preserved your souls, they will be well," namely your souls. St. Clement adds, book VI of the Constitutions, chapter XII, that the Apostles when gathered established many other things. For thus he says in their person: "Therefore, after these letters had been sent, we remained for several days at Jerusalem, inquiring together about those things which pertained to the common good for correction"; which he then enumerates. St. Paul adds, Galatians II, 9, that he gave the right hands of fellowship to St. Peter, that he himself might bear special care for the Jews, while Paul for the Gentiles. Furthermore, that after this decree some animosity still remained between the Jews and the Gentiles converted to Christ, Paul indicates in the same place, when he says that he resisted Peter to his face when he came to Antioch, because, fearing the Jews, he was withdrawing himself from the Gentiles, and so by his example was compelling them to judaize. See what is said there.
Verse 31: They Rejoiced over the Consolation
31. THEY REJOICED OVER THE CONSOLATION, — which the Apostles gave them, by removing from them the heavy burden and yoke of the Mosaic law; the Syriac: "they rejoiced and received consolation."
Verse 32: Since They Were Prophets
32. SINCE THEY WERE PROPHETS, — both prophets properly so called, as Miltiades says in Eusebius, book V of the History, chapter xvi or xvii; and metaphorically, namely Prophets, that is, teachers, preachers and exhorters: for it belongs to these to console and confirm the brethren. See what is said at I Corinthians xiv, beginning.
WITH MUCH SPEECH, — διὰ λόγου πολλοῦ, that is, with much word, namely copious, vehement and efficacious; the Syriac: "with rich discourse."
Verse 33: With Peace
33. WITH PEACE, — as if to say: The controversy concerning the legal observances was now laid to rest, since all acquiesced in the decree of the Apostles, and so they cherished mutual peace. Or "with peace," that is, by bidding them farewell while wishing them peace and prosperity, saying: "Go in peace," or "May the God of peace bring you back peacefully," or "Peace be with you." For this was the greeting of Christ, from whom the Apostles and other faithful learned and adopted it.
TO THOSE WHO HAD SENT THEM, — to the Apostles in Jerusalem.
Verse 36: Let Us Visit the Brethren
36. LET US VISIT THE BRETHREN. — For it is not enough to bring forth sons to Christ, but it is also necessary to nurse and nourish them, so that they may grow in faith and virtue. Thus Bishops ought frequently to visit their parishes. For, as Aristotle says in I Economics, chapter vi, "the master's eye fattens the horse, and his footsteps make the field rich." Concerning this visitation, our Lorinus has gathered many useful things here.
Verse 38: But Paul Was Asking
38. BUT PAUL WAS ASKING, — ἠξίου, that is, he judged it fitting and worthy.
AS ONE WHO HAD DEPARTED, — either through fear of persecution, or to flee labor, or out of love for his mother who was living in Jerusalem. In Greek it is said more forcefully, τὸν ἀποστάντα, that is, one who had revolted or defected: for from this an ἀποστάτης is called a deserter, a defector. So Pagninus, the Tigurine version, and others.
Verse 39: There Arose a Dissension
39. AND THERE AROSE A DISSENSION, — παροξυσμός. Pagninus and Vatablus translate it as exacerbation; the Tigurine version, sharp disputation; others, an incitement of anger or spirit, or the first motion of anger and first stirring of the bile. Anger on both sides can be good when each party is moved by legitimate reason and ardently contends and disputes for its own right or desire, as was happening here; though there be an easy lapse into venial excess. This was done by the will of God, that Barnabas might be separated from Paul, and so being separated they might evangelize in different and more places, says St. Chrysostom. Secondly, that John, surnamed Mark, being marked with ignominy by this disputation and severity of St. Paul, recognizing his fault of inconstancy and cowardice, might become more spirited and steadfast; as indeed happened. Whence Paul also took him back and had him as a dear and faithful companion. So says the same Chrysostom. St. Jerome speaks excellently in his Apology against Rufinus: "Did not the Apostles, he says, with their friendships preserved among themselves, disagree, when Paul and Barnabas were vexed over John, surnamed Mark, and a voyage separated those whom the Gospel was joining?" Such dissension was between St. Peter and Paul, Galatians II, between St. Jerome and Augustine, between St. Chrysostom and Epiphanius, between St. Cornelius and Cyprian concerning the non-repetition of the baptism of heretics, etc.
AND BARNABAS INDEED, HAVING TAKEN MARK, SAILED TO CYPRUS. — Luke from this point onward makes no further mention of Barnabas, but follows only the deeds of Paul, whose disciple and companion he was. From the journey of St. Barnabas with St. Paul, which Luke has hitherto described, it is clear that what Clement says in the Recognitions, and Alexander the monk in the Life of St. Barnabas — namely, that Barnabas was the first of all to evangelize at Rome, and from there brought Clement to Caesarea to St. Peter — is false. But that after these things St. Barnabas came into Italy, preached in Liguria, established the Church of Milan, propagated the faith far and wide — firm traditions and the monuments of that same Church, and many writers, give certain assurance, says Baronius. At length Barnabas returned to Cyprus, and there underwent glorious martyrdom for Christ. Of him we read thus in the Roman Martyrology, on June 11: "The birthday of St. Barnabas the Apostle, who being by nation a Cypriot, was ordained by the disciples together with Paul as Apostle of the Gentiles; he traversed many regions with him, performing the work of evangelical preaching enjoined upon him: at last setting out for Cyprus, he there adorned his apostolate with glorious martyrdom: whose body, in the time of the Emperor Zeno, by his own revelation, was found, together with the codex of the Gospel of St. Matthew written in his own hand." Moreover, that he was one of the 72 disciples of Christ is handed down by Eusebius, book II of the History, chapter II; Epiphanius, in the Panarion, book I, near the end; Bede, on Acts IV, and others.
Verse 40: Delivered to the Grace of God
40. DELIVERED TO THE GRACE OF GOD. — See what is said at chapter XII, verse 26.
Verse 41: Commanding Them to Keep the Precepts of the Apostles
41. COMMANDING THEM TO KEEP THE PRECEPTS OF THE APOSTLES. — Therefore not only the precepts of God, but also of men, namely of Superiors, must be observed, which heretics deny. These words are absent here in the Greek and Syriac, but the same are found and repeated in the following chapter, verse 4.