Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 10:25

"And when it came to pass that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him." — Acts 10:25 (ASV)

Fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.—The attitude was the most extreme form of Eastern homage. So Jairus had bowed down before Jesus (Matthew 9:18), so St. John bowed before the angel (Revelation 22:8).

Peter’s answer, in strong contrast with the words and acts, the very ceremonial, of those who claim to be his successors, shows that he regarded it as expressing a homage that God alone could rightly claim.

For a human to require or receive it from another human was an inversion of the true order. The language of the angel in Revelation 22:9—See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow-servant . . . worship God—implies the same truth.

Both Peter's response and the angel's words bear their witness, all the more important because not controversial, against any cultus of saints or angels that tends to erase the distinction between humanity and God. We must not overlook the parallelism between St. Peter’s words and those of St. Paul at Lystra, We also are men of like passions with yourselves (Acts 14:15).