Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 1:17

"For he was numbered among us, and received his portion in this ministry." — Acts 1:17 (ASV)

The Greek literally reads “Men, brothers,” a type of formal address found within first-century synagogues (cf. 2:29, 37; 7:2; 13:15, 26, 38; et al.). Peter’s words in v.16, and again later in v.21, speak of the “necessity” (cf. “had to”; GK 1256) of Scripture being fulfilled in relation to Judas’s defection and the choice of another to replace him. Luke frequently stresses the compulsion inherent in the divine plan—a stress usually accompanied by an emphasis on human inability to comprehend God’s workings. At times that divine necessity is explained in terms of the fulfillment of specific Scripture passages (as here; 24:26, 44), but more often that is not the case (e.g., Lk 2:49; 4:43; 9:22; et al.). This suggests that the concept of “divine necessity” is broader than just “the fulfillment of Scripture.” We should therefore not say that the “necessity” here and in v.21 concerns only certain prophecies of Scripture. The understanding is rather (1) that God is doing something necessarily involved in his divine plan; (2) that the disciples’ lack of comprehension of God’s plan is profound, especially with respect to Judas; and (3) that an explicit way of understanding what has been going on under God’s direction is through a Christian understanding of two psalms that speak of false companions and wicked men generally, and which by means of exegetical rules used in that day could be applied to the false disciple and wicked man par excellence, Judas Iscariot.