Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 9:32

"And it came to pass, as Peter went throughout all parts, he came down also to the saints that dwelt at Lydda." — Acts 9:32 (ASV)

As Peter passed throughout all quarters.—The plan of the writer, arranging his materials, leads him from this point of Acts 12:18 to dwell entirely on the personal work of Peter. So far, this section of the book may be described as the Acts of Peter. On the other hand, it is obvious that he includes these acts only as part of his general plan, not aiming to follow the Apostle’s course as in a biography, but confining himself to tracing the steps by which Peter was led to the part he played in the great work of the conversion of the Gentiles. The “all quarters” may well have included Galilee.

He came down also to the saints who dwelt at Lydda.—On the term “saints,” see Note on Acts 9:13. Lydda, the Lud of the Old Testament (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37; Nehemiah 11:35), was a town in the rich plain of Sharon, one day’s journey from Jerusalem. It was founded originally by settlers from the tribe of Benjamin and retains to this day its old name as Ludd. It is mentioned by Josephus (Wars, iii. 3, § 5) as transferred by Demetrius Sotêr, at the request of Judas Maccabeus, to the estate of the Temple at Jerusalem .

Under the grasping rule of Cassius, the inhabitants were sold as slaves (Josephus, Antiquities, xiv. 11, § 2). It had, however, recovered its former prosperity and appears at this time to have been the seat of a flourishing Christian community.

In the wars that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem, Lydda was partially burned by Cestius Gallus in A.D. 66 (Josephus, Wars, ii. 19, § 1), as all but fifty of the inhabitants had gone up to the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem. It was again occupied by Vespasian in A.D. 68 (Josephus, Wars, ii. 8, § 1).

When it was rebuilt, probably under Hadrian, at the time Jerusalem received the new name Ælia Capitolina, Lydda also was renamed Diospolis (meaning City of Zeus). As such, it became the seat of one of the chief bishoprics of the Syrian Church.

At the time Peter came to it, Lydda was the seat of a Rabbinic school, scarcely inferior to that of Jabneh, and it retained its fame even after the scribes of the latter city had migrated to Tiberias. Gamaliel, son of the great Rabbi who was Saint Paul’s master, and himself honored with the title of Rabban, presided over it. He was succeeded by the great Tarphon (Lightfoot, Centuria Chorographica, chapter 16).

The question we naturally ask—who had planted the faith of Christ there?—once more leads us to Philip the Evangelist. Lying as it did on the road from Azotus to Cæsarea, Lydda would have been on his way during the journey recorded in Acts 8:40, as he passed through all the cities; and we may believe, with little risk of error, that here also he was Saint Luke’s informant concerning what had happened in the Church with which he was so closely connected.

A certain man named Æneas.—The Greek name (we note the shortened vowel Ænĕas of the later form of the word), perhaps, implies that he belonged to the Hellenistic section of the Church. Had the fame of Virgil’s poem made the name of the Trojan hero known even in the plains of Palestine? In the care with which Saint Luke records the circumstances of the case—the eight years of bedridden paralysis—we note a trace of professional exactness, as in Acts 3:7; Acts 9:18; Acts 28:8. The word “bed,” used commonly of the couches of the lower class (see Note on Matthew 2:4), suggests the thought that poverty also was added to his sufferings.