John Calvin Commentary Acts 20:10

"And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Make ye no ado; for his life is in him." — Acts 20:10 (ASV)

He lay down upon him. We know that the apostles, in working miracles, sometimes used certain external rites, by which they might give glory to God, the author. And now, as Paul stretches himself upon the young man, I think it was done for no other purpose except that he might more easily stir himself up to prayer.

It is just as if he were mingling himself with the dead man. And, perhaps, this was done in imitation of Elisha, of whom the sacred history reports the same thing (2 Kings 4:34). Yet the vehemence of his affection moved him more than the emulation of the prophet.

For that act of stretching himself upon him further provokes him to crave his life with all his heart from the Lord. So when he embraces the body of the dead man, by this gesture he declared that he offered it to God to be revived, and from the text we may gather that he did not stop embracing it until he knew that life had been restored.

Be ye not troubled. We must note that Paul took great care principally for this reason: lest that sorrowful event shake the faith of the godly and trouble their minds. Nevertheless, the Lord, as it were, sealed up and established that last sermon which Paul made at Troas. When he says that his soul is in him, he does not deny that he was dead, because by this he would extinguish the glory of the miracle; but the meaning of these words is, that his life was restored through the grace of God. I do not take what follows—namely, that they were greatly comforted by the joy they had because of the young man who was restored to life—to refer only to that joy. Instead, I also include the confirmation of faith, since God gave them such an excellent testimony of His love.