---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Acts 10"
description: "CHAPTER 10   :-. ACCESSION AND
BAPTISM OF CORNELIUS
AND HIS PARTY;
OR, THE
FIRST-FRUITS OF THE
GENTILES. We here enter on an entirely new
phase of the Chr"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/acts/10"
---

CHAPTER 10

. ACCESSION AND
BAPTISM OF CORNELIUS
AND HIS PARTY;
OR, THE
FIRST-FRUITS OF THE
GENTILES.
We here enter on an entirely new
phase of the Christian Church, the "opening of the door of faith
to the Gentiles"; in other words, the recognition of Gentile, on
terms of perfect equality with Jewish, discipleship without the
necessity of circumcision. Some beginnings appear to have been
already made in this direction (see on ); and Saul probably acted on this principle from the
first, both in Arabia and in Syria and Cilicia. But had he been the
prime mover in the admission of uncircumcised Gentiles into the
Church, the Jewish party, who were never friendly to him, would have
acquired such strength as to bring the Church to the verge of a
disastrous schism. But on Peter, "the apostle" specially
"of the circumcision," was conferred the honor of
initiating this great movement, as before of the first admission of
Jewish believers. (See on ).
After this, however, one who had already come upon the stage was to
eclipse this "chiefest of the apostles."

**1, 2. Cæsarea**—(See on ).
**the Italian band**—a
cohort of Italians, as distinguished from native soldiers, quartered
at Cæsarea, probably as a bodyguard to the Roman procurator who
resided there. An ancient coin makes express mention of such a cohort
in Syria. [AKERMAN,
*Numismatic Illustrations of the New Testament.*]

**2. A devout man,** c.—an
uncircumcised Gentile proselyte to the Jewish faith, of whom there
were a very great number at this time a distinguished proselyte, who
had brought his whole household establishment under the hallowing
influence of the Jewish faith and the regular observance of its
principal seasons of worship.
**gave much alms to the
people**—that is, the *Jewish* people, on the same principle
as another centurion before him (); thinking it no "great thing," if they had "sown
unto him spiritual things, that they should reap his carnal things"
([1 Corinthians 9:11](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/9/11)).
**prayed to God alway**—at
the stated daily seasons. (See on [1 Corinthians 9:11](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/9/11)).

**3-6. saw . . .
evidently**—"distinctly."
**the ninth hour of the
day**—three o'clock, the hour of the evening sacrifice. But he
had been "fasting until that hour" (), perhaps from the sixth hour ().

**4. What is it, Lord?**—language
which, tremulously though it was uttered, betokened childlike
reverence and humility.
**Thy prayers and thine
alms**—The way in which both are specified is emphatic. The one
denotes the spiritual outgoing of his soul to God, the other its
practical outgoing to men.
**are come up for a memorial
before God**—that is, as a *sacrifice* well-pleasing unto
God, as an odor of a sweet smell ().

**5. send to Joppa . . . for one
Simon,** &c.—(See on ).

**3-6. saw . . .
evidently**—"distinctly."
**the ninth hour of the
day**—three o'clock, the hour of the evening sacrifice. But he
had been "fasting until that hour" (), perhaps from the sixth hour ().

**7, 8. when the angel . . . was
departed, he called**—immediately doing as directed, and thereby
showing the simplicity of his faith.
**a devout soldier of them that
waited on him continually**—of the "soldiers under him,"
such as the centurion at Capernaum had (). Who this "devout soldier" was, can only be matter
of conjecture. DA COSTA
[*Four Witnesses*] gives a number of ingenious reasons for
thinking that, having attached himself henceforth to Peter—whose
influence in the composition of the second Gospel is attested by the
earliest tradition, and is stamped on that Gospel itself—he is no
other than the Evangelist *Mark.*

**9-16. upon the housetop**—the
flat roof, the chosen place in the East for cool retirement.
**the sixth hour**—noon.

**10. a trance**—differing from
the "vision" of Cornelius, in so far as the things seen had
not the same *objective* reality, though both were supernatural.

**9-16. upon the housetop**—the
flat roof, the chosen place in the East for cool retirement.
**the sixth hour**—noon.

**12. all manner of four-footed
beasts,** &c.—that is, the *clean* and the *unclean*
(ceremonially) all mixed together.

**9-16. upon the housetop**—the
flat roof, the chosen place in the East for cool retirement.
**the sixth hour**—noon.

**14. Not so, Lord**—See *Marginal*
reference.
**I have never eaten anything
that is common**—that is, *not sanctified* by divine
permission to eat of it, and so "unclean." "The
distinction of meats was a sacrament of national distinction,
separation, and consecration" [WEBSTER
and WILKINSON].

**15. What God hath cleansed, that
call not thou common**—The ceremonial distinctions are at an end,
and Gentiles, ceremonially separated from the chosen people (), and debarred from that access to God in the visible
ordinances of His Church which they enjoyed, are now on a perfect
equality with them.

**16. done thrice**—See .

**17-24. while Peter doubted . . .
what this should mean, behold, the three men . . . stood before the
gate . . . and asked**—"were inquiring," that is, in
the act of doing so. The preparations here made—of Peter for his
Gentile visitors, as of Cornelius for him—are devoutly to be noted.
But besides this, at the same moment, "the Spirit"
expressly informs him that three men were inquiring for him, and bids
him unhesitatingly go with them, as sent by Him.

**21. I am he whom ye seek**—This
seems to have been said without any communication being made to Peter
regarding the men or their errand.

**22. they said, Cornelius . . . a
just man,** &c.—fine testimony this from his own servants.
**of good report among all the
nation of the Jews**—specified, no doubt, to conciliate the
favorable regard of the Jewish apostle.
**to hear words of thee**—(See
on [Acts 10:1](../../../kjv/acts/10/1)).

**23. called them in and lodged
them**—thus partially anticipating this fellowship with Gentiles.
**Peter went . . . with them,
and certain brethren**—six in number ().
**from Joppa**—as witnesses
of a transaction which Peter was prepared to believe pregnant with
great consequences.

**24. Cornelius . . . called together
his kinsmen and near friends**—implying that he had been long
enough at Cæsarea to form relationships there and that he had
intimate friends there whose presence he was not ashamed to invite to
a religious meeting of the most solemn nature.

**25-29. as Peter was coming in,
Cornelius met him**—a mark of the highest respect.
**fell down at his feet, and
worshipped him**—In the East this way of showing respect was
customary not only to kings, but to others occupying a superior
station; but among the Greeks and Romans it was reserved for the
gods. Peter, therefore, declines it as due to no mortal [GROTIUS].
"*Those who claim to have succeeded Peter, have not imitated
this part of his conduct*" [ALFORD]
(therein only verifying [2 Thessalonians 2:4](../../../kjv/2-thessalonians/2/4),
and compare [Revelation 19:10](../../../kjv/revelation/19/10); [Revelation 22:9](../../../kjv/revelation/22/9)).

**28. Ye know it is . . . unlawful . .
. for . . . a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another
nation,** &c.—There was no express prohibition to this
effect, and to a Certain extent intercourse was certainly kept up.
(See the Gospel history, towards the end). But intimate social
fellowship was not practiced, as being adverse to the spirit of the
law.

**29. I ask therefore,** &c.—The
whole speech is full of dignity, the apostle seeing in the company
before him a new brotherhood, into whose devout and inquiring minds
he was divinely directed to pour the light of new truth.

**30-33. Four days ago**—the
messengers being despatched on the first; on the second reaching
Joppa ([Acts 10:9](../../../kjv/acts/10/9)); starting for
Cæsarea on the third; and on the fourth arriving.

**33. we are all here present before
God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God**—Beautiful
expression of entire preparedness to receive the expected divine
teaching through the lips of this heaven-commissioned teacher, and
delightful encouragement to Peter to give free utterance to what was
doubtless already on his lips!

**34, 35. Peter opened his mouth**—(See
on ).
**Of a truth I perceive**—that
is, "I have it now demonstrated before mine eyes."
**that God is no respecter of
persons**—Not, "I see there is no capricious *favoritism*
with God," for Peter would never imagine such a thing; but (as
the next clause shows), "I see that God has respect only to
*personal character and state* in the acceptance of men,
national and ecclesiastical distinctions being of no account."

**35. But in every nation**—not
(observe), in every *religion;* according to a common distortion
of these words.
**he that feareth him, and
worketh righteousness**—This being the well-known phraseology of
the Old Testament in describing the truly godly man, within the pale
of revealed religion, it cannot be alleged that Peter meant it to
denote a merely *virtuous* character, in the heathen sense; and
as Peter had learned enough, from the messengers of Cornelius and
from his own lips, to convince him that the whole religious character
of this Roman officer had been moulded in the Jewish faith, there can
be no doubt that the apostle intended to describe exactly such
saintship—in its internal spirituality and external fruitfulness—as
God had already pronounced to be genuine and approved. And since to
such "He giveth more grace," according to the law of His
Kingdom ([James 4:6](../../../kjv/james/4/6); [Matthew 25:29](../../../kjv/matthew/25/29)),
He sends Peter, not to be the instrument of his *conversion,* as
this is very frequently called, but simply to "show him the way
of God more perfectly," as before to the devout Ethiopian
eunuch.

**36-38. the word . . . sent unto the
children of Israel**—for to them (he would have them distinctly
know) the Gospel was first preached, even as the facts of it took
place on the special theater of the ancient economy.
**preaching peace by Jesus
Christ**—the glorious sum of all Gospel truth ().
**he is Lord of all**—exalted
to embrace under the canopy of His peace, Jew and Gentile alike, whom
the blood of His Cross had cemented into one reconciled and accepted
family of God ().

**37. That word . . . ye how**—The
facts, it seems, were too notorious and extraordinary to be unknown
to those who mixed so much with Jews, and took so tender an interest
in all Jewish matters as they did; though, like the eunuch, they knew
not the significance of them.
**which was published
throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee**—(See [Luke 4:14](../../../kjv/luke/4/14);
[Luke 4:37](../../../kjv/luke/4/37); [Luke 4:44](../../../kjv/luke/4/44);
[Luke 7:17](../../../kjv/luke/7/17); [Luke 9:6](../../../kjv/luke/9/6);
[Luke 23:5](../../../kjv/luke/23/5)).
**after the baptism which John
preached**—(See on [Acts 1:22](../../../kjv/acts/1/22)).

**38. Now God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth**—rather, "Jesus of Nazareth (as the burden of that
'published word'), how God anointed Him."
**with the Holy Ghost and with
power**—that is, at His baptism, thus visibly proclaiming Him
MESSIAH, "the Lord's
Christ." See . For it is not His unction for personal holiness at His
incarnation that is referred to—as many of the Fathers and some
moderns take it—but His investiture with the insignia of the
Messianic office, in which He presented Himself after His baptism to
the acceptance of the people.
**went about doing good**—holding
up the *beneficent* character of all His miracles, which was
their predicted character ([Isaiah 35:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/35/5);
[Isaiah 35:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/35/6), c.).
**healing all that were
oppressed of the devil**—whether in the form of demoniacal
possessions, or more indirectly, as in her "whom Satan had bound
with a spirit of infirmity eighteen years" ([Isaiah 35:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/35/6)) thereby showing Himself the Redeemer from all evil.
**for God was with him**—Thus
gently does the apostle rise to the supreme dignity of Christ with
which he closes, accommodating himself to his hearers.

**39-43. we are witnesses of all . . .
he did**—not objects of superstitious reverence, but simply
*witnesses* to the great historical facts on which the Gospel is
founded.
**slew and hanged**—that
is, slew by hanging.
**on a tree**—So (and see on ).

**40-41. showed him openly; Not to all
the people**—for it was not fitting that He should subject
Himself, in His risen condition, to a second rejection in Person.
**but unto witnesses chosen
before of God . . . to us, who did eat and drink with him after he
rose,** c.—Not the less certain, therefore, was the fact of His
resurrection, though withholding Himself from general gaze in His
risen body.
**he which was ordained of God
to be the Judge of quick and dead**—He had before proclaimed Him
"Lord of all," for the dispensing of "*peace*"
to all alike now he announces Him in the same supreme lordship, for
the exercise of *judgment* upon all alike. On this divine
ordination, see [John 5:22](../../../kjv/john/5/22); [John 5:23](../../../kjv/john/5/23);
[John 5:27](../../../kjv/john/5/27); [Acts 17:31](../../../kjv/acts/17/31).
Thus we have here all Gospel truth in brief. But, *forgiveness
through this exalted One* is the closing note of Peter's
beautifully simple discourse.

**39-43. we are witnesses of all . . .
he did**—not objects of superstitious reverence, but simply
*witnesses* to the great historical facts on which the Gospel is
founded.
**slew and hanged**—that
is, slew by hanging.
**on a tree**—So (and see on ).

**43. To him give all the prophets
witness**—that is, This is the burden, generally of the prophetic
testimony. It was fitter thus to give the spirit of their testimony,
than to quote them in detail on such an occasion. But let this
apostolic statement of the evangelical import of the Old Testament
writings be devoutly weighed by those who are disposed to rationalize
away this element in the Old Testament.
**whosoever believeth in
him**—This was evidently said with special reference to the
Gentile audience then before him, and formed a noble practical
conclusion to the whole discourse.

**44, 45. While Peter yet spake . . .
the Holy Ghost fell**—by visible and audible manifestation ().

**45. they of the circumcision . . .
were astonished . . . because that on the Gentiles also was poured
out,** &c.—without circumcision.

**46-48. Then answered Peter, Can any
man forbid water . . . which have received the Holy Ghost,**
&c.—Mark, he does not say, They have received the Spirit, what
need have they for water? but, Having the living discipleship
imparted to them and visibly stamped upon them, what objection can
there be to admitting them, by the seal of baptism, into the full
fellowship of the Church?

**47. which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we**—and are thus, in all that is essential to
salvation, on a level with ourselves.

**48. he commanded them to be
baptized**—not doing it with his own hands, as neither did Paul,
save on rare occasions (; compare [Acts 2:38](../../../kjv/acts/2/38);
[John 4:2](../../../kjv/john/4/2)).
**prayed . . . him to tarry
certain days**—"golden days" [BENGEL],
spent, doubtless, in refreshing Christian fellowship, and in
imparting and receiving fuller teaching on the several topics of the
apostle's discourse.

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