Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 17

CHAPTER 17

Amphipolis. This was the capital of the eastern province of Macedonia. It was originally a colony of the Athenians; but under the Romans, it was made the capital of that part of Macedonia. It was near Thrace and was situated not far from the mouth of the river Strymon, which flowed around the city, and thus it received its name, meaning around the city. In the Middle Ages, it was called Chrysopolis. The village that now stands on the site of the ancient city is called Empoli or Yamboli, a corruption of Amphipolis. (Rob. Cal.)

And Apollonia. This city was situated between Amphipolis and Thessalonica and was formerly much celebrated for its trade.

They came to Thessalonica. This was a seaport of the second part of Macedonia. It is situated at the head of the bay Thermaicus. It was made the capital of the second division of Macedonia by Aemilius Paulus, when he divided the country into four districts. It was formerly called Therma, but afterwards received the name of Thessalonica, either from Cassander, in honour of his wife Thessalonica, the daughter of Philip, or in honour of a victory which Philip obtained over the armies of Thessaly. It was inhabited by Greeks, Romans, and Jews.

It is now called Saloniki, and is a wretched place, though it has a population of nearly sixty thousand. In this place, a church was established, to which Paul afterwards addressed the two epistles to the Thessalonians.

Where was a synagogue. Greek, Where was THE SYNAGOGUE (h sunagwgh) of the Jews. It has been remarked by Grotius and Kuinoel that the article used here is emphatic and indicates that there was probably no synagogue at Amphipolis and Apollonia. This was the reason why they passed through those places without making any delay.

His manner was. His custom was to attend the worship of the synagogue and to preach the gospel to his countrymen first, Acts 9:20; 13:5, 14.

Reasoned with them. He discoursed to them, or attempted to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. The word used here (dielegeto) often means no more than to make a public address or discourse. See Barnes on Acts 24:25.

Out of the Scriptures. By many critics this is connected with the following verse, Opening and alleging from the Scriptures, that Christ must needs have suffered, etc. The sense is not materially varied by the change.

Opening. dianoigwn. See Luke 24:32. The word means to explain or to unfold. It is usually applied to that which is shut, such as the eyes, etc. Then it means to explain that which is concealed or obscure. It means here that he explained the Scriptures in their true sense.

And alleging. paratiyemenov. Laying down the proposition, that is, maintaining that it must be so.

That Christ must necessarily have suffered. This means that there was a suitability and necessity in his dying, as Jesus of Nazareth had done. The sense of this will be better understood by retaining the word Messiah: "That there was a suitability or necessity that the Messiah, expected by the Jews and predicted in their Scriptures, should suffer." The Jews were unwilling to admit this point, but it was essential to his argument in proving that Jesus was the Messiah to show that it was foretold that he should die for the sins of men. On the necessity of this, see Barnes on Luke 4:26.

Have suffered. That he should die.

And that this Jesus. And that this Jesus of Nazareth, who has thus suffered and risen—whom, he said, I preach to you—is the Messiah.

The arguments by which Paul probably proved that Jesus was the Messiah were:

1. That he corresponded with the prophecies respecting him, in the following particulars:
   1. He was born at Bethlehem.
   2. He was of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10).
   3. He was descended from Jesse and of the royal line of David (Isaiah 11:1, 10).
   4. He came at the time predicted (Daniel 9:24–27).
   5. His appearance, character, work, etc., corresponded with the predictions of Isaiah 53.
2. His miracles proved that he was the Messiah, for he professed to be, and God would not work a miracle to confirm the claims of an impostor.
3. For the same reason, his resurrection from the dead proved that he was the Messiah.

The phrase "Opening and alleging" means "Explaining them." For "needs have suffered," see Luke 24:26, 46; Acts 18:28; Galatians 3:1.

The phrase "whom I preach" is expanded by the commentator to "whom, he said, I preach."

And consorted. Literally, they had their lot with Paul and Silas; that is, they united themselves to them and became their disciples. The word is commonly applied to those who are partakers of an inheritance.

And of the devout Greeks. Religious Greeks; or, those who worshipped God. Those who had renounced the worship of idols, attended the worship of the synagogue, but were not fully admitted to the privileges of Jewish proselytes, were denoted by this term. They were called, by the Jews, "proselytes of the gate."

And of the chief women. See Barnes on Acts 13:50.

Moved with envy. This refers to the fact that they made so many converts and met with such success.

Certain lewd fellows of the baser sort. This is an unfortunate translation. The word lewd is not in the original. The Greek is, And having taken certain wicked men of those who were about the forum, or market-place.

The forum, or market-place, was the place where the idle assembled and where those who wished to be employed gathered (Matthew 20:3).

Many of these individuals would have been of corrupt character—the idle, the dissipated, and the worthless—and therefore, the ideal material for a mob. It does not appear that they felt any particular interest in the matter; but, like other mobs, they were easily stirred up and incited to any acts of violence.

The pretext on which the mob was roused was that Paul and Silas had caused disturbances everywhere and had violated the laws of the Roman emperor (Acts 17:6–7).

It may be observed, however, that a mob usually cares very little about the cause in which it is engaged. Mobs can be roused either for or against religion, becoming as full of zeal for the insulted honour of religion as against it.

Thus, the profane, the worthless, and the corrupt often become violently enraged for the honour of religion, and full of indignation and tumult against those accused of violating public peace and order.

The house of Jason. This was where Paul and Silas were staying (Acts 17:7). Jason appears to have been a relative of Paul, and it was probably for this reason that Paul lodged with him (Romans 16:21).