Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 11:20

"But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus." — Acts 11:20 (ASV)

And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene.—It is better to read, But some. These were, from the nature of the case, Hellenistic or Greek-speaking Jews. We can only conjecture who they were. Possibly Lucius of Cyrene, who appears in the list of prophets in Acts 13:1; possibly Simon of Cyrene, of whom we have seen reason to think as a disciple of Christ (see Notes on Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21). The founders of the Church of Antioch, like those of the Church of Rome, must remain unknown.

Spake unto the Grecians.—The MSS. present the two readings—Hellenistæ (Greek-speaking Jews), and Hellenes (Greeks or Gentiles by descent). As far as their authority is concerned, the two stand nearly on the same level, the balance inclining slightly in favour of Hellenistæ, which is found in MSS. B and D, while A gives Hellenes. The Sinaitic has the almost incomprehensible reading “they spake unto the Evangelistœ,” which is obviously wrong, but which, so far as it goes, must be thrown into the scale in favour of Hellenistæ, as the word which the transcriber had before him, and which he misread or misheard.

If we accept that reading, then we must suppose St. Luke to emphasize the fact that the preachers of whom he speaks, instead of speaking to the Jews at large (many of whom, being Syrians, would speak Aramaic), specifically addressed the Greek-speaking Jews and proselytes. They were thus following in St. Stephen’s footsteps and indirectly preparing the way for St. Paul—the Hellenistæ being, as a body, the link between the Jews as a race and the Hellenes.

On the whole, however, internal evidence seems to turn the scale in favour of the other reading.

1. Since the Hellenistæ were “Jews,” though not “Hebrews,” they would naturally be included in the statement of Acts 11:19. Therefore, no contrast or new advance would be indicated in Acts 11:20 by the statement that the word was spoken to them.

2. On the other hand, the contrast between Jews and Hellenes is perfectly natural and familiar, as in Acts 14:1 and Acts 18:4. Assuming this to be the true reading, we perceive a note of progress that would otherwise be missed, as there is no record elsewhere of the admission of the Gentiles at Antioch.

3. It does not necessarily follow, however, that the Hellenes who are spoken of had been heathen idolaters up to the time of their conversion. Probably, as in Acts 18:4, they were more or less on the same level as Cornelius: proselytes of the gate, attending the services of the synagogue.

4. The question of whether this preceded or followed the conversion of Cornelius is one for which we do not have sufficient data to decide. On the one hand, the brief narrative of Acts 11:19 suggests an interval as long as that between the death of Stephen and St. Peter’s visit to Cæsarea. It may have been part of the working of God’s providence that there should be simultaneous and parallel advances.

   On the other hand, the language of those of the circumcision to Peter in Acts 11:3 implies that they had not heard of such a case before; and the language of the Apostle himself, in Acts 15:7, distinctly claims the honour of being the first (possibly, however, only the first among the disciples at Jerusalem) from whose lips the Gentiles, as such, had heard the word of the gospel.

On the whole, therefore, it seems probable that the work went on at Antioch for many months among the Hellenistic and other Jews, and that the men of Cyprus and Cyrene arrived after the case of Cornelius had removed the scruples which had until then restrained them from giving full scope to the longings of their heart.

We must not forget, however, that there was one to whom the Gospel of the Uncircumcision, the Gospel of Humanity, had already been revealed in its fullness (Acts 20:21; Galatians 1:11–12). We can hardly think of him as waiting, after that revelation, for any decision of the Church of Jerusalem.

His action, at any rate, must have been parallel and independent, and may have been known to, and followed by, other missionaries.

Preaching the Lord Jesus.—As before, this means preaching the glad tidings of the Lord Jesus.