Pamphylia - The ancient name of the country of Natolia, now called Caramania, between Lycia and Cilicia, near the Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt - A very extensive country of African bounded by the Mediterranean on the north; by the Red Sea and the Isthmus of Suez, which divide it from Arabia, on the east; by Abyssinia or Ethiopia on the south; and by the deserts of Barca and Nubia on the west. It was called Mizraim by the ancient Hebrews, and now Mesr by the Arabians. It extends 600 miles from north to south; and from 100 to 250 in breadth, from east to west.
Libya - In a general way, among the Greeks, signified Africa; but the northern part, in the vicinity of Cyrene, is here meant.
Cyrene - A country in Africa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, southward of the most western point of the Island of Crete.
Strangers of Rome - Persons dwelling at Rome, and speaking the Latin language, partly consisting of regularly descended Jews and proselytes to the Jewish religion.
Verse 11
Cretes - Natives of Crete, a large and noted island in the Levant, or eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, now called Candia.
Arabians - Natives of Arabia, a well known country of Asia, having the Red Sea on the west; the Persian Gulf on the east; Judea on the north; and the Indian Ocean on the south.
The wonderful works of God - Such as the incarnation of Christ; his various miracles, preaching, death, resurrection, and ascension; and the design of God to save the world through him. From this one circumstance we may learn that all the people enumerated above were either Jews or proselytes; and that there was probably none that could be, strictly speaking, called heathens among them. It may at first appear strange that there could be found Jews in so many different countries, some of which were very remote from the others; but there is a passage in Philo's Embassy to Caius which throws considerable light on the subject. In a letter sent to Caius by King Agrippa, he speaks of to the holy city of Jerusalem, not merely as the metropolis of Judea, but of many other regions, because of the colonies at different times led out of Judea, not only into neighboring countries, such as Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria, and Coelosyria, but also into those that are remote, such as Pamphylia, Cilicia, and the chief parts of Asia as far as Bithynia, and the innermost parts of Pontus; also in the regions of Europe, Thessaly, Boeotia, Macedonia, Aetolia, Attica, Argos, Corinth, and the principal parts of Peloponnesus. Not only the continents and provinces (says he) are full of Jewish colonies, but the most celebrated isles also, Euboea, Cyprus, and Crete, not to mention the countries beyond the Euphrates. All these (a small part of Babylon and some other praefectures excepted, which possess fertile territories) are inhabited by Jews. Not only my native city entreats thy clemency, but other cities also, situated in different parts of the world, Asia, Europe, Africa; both islands, sea coasts, and inland countries." Philonis Opera, edit. Mangey, vol. ii. p. 587.
It is worthy of remark that almost all the places and provinces mentioned by St. Luke are mentioned also in this letter of King Agrippa. These, being all Jews or proselytes, could understand in some measure the wonderful works of God, of which mere heathens could have formed no conception. It was wisely ordered that the miraculous descent of the Holy Ghost should take place at this time, when so many from various nations were present to bear witness to what was done, and to be themselves subjects of his mighty working. These, on their return to their respective countries, would naturally proclaim what things they saw and heard; and by this the way of the apostles was made plain; and thus Christianity made a rapid progress over all those parts in a very short time after the resurrection of our Lord.
Verse 13
These men are full of new wine - Rather sweet wine, for γλευκους, cannot mean the mustum, or new wine, as there could be none in Judea so early as pentecost. The Γλευκος, gleucus, seems to have been a peculiar kind of wine, and is thus described by Hesychius and Suidas: Γλευκος, το αποσταγμα της σταφυλης, πριν πατηθῃ. Gleucus is that which distils from the grape before it is pressed. This must be at once both the strongest and sweetest wine. Calmet observes that the ancients had the secret of preserving wine sweet through the whole year, and were fond of taking morning draughts of it: to this Horace appears to refer, Sat. l. ii. s. iv. ver. 24.
Aufidius forti miscebat mella Falerno.
Mendose: quoniam vacuis committere venis
Nil nisi lene decet: leni praecordia mulso
Prolueris melius.
Aufidius first, most injudicious, quaffed
Strong wine and honey for his morning draught.
With lenient bev'rage fill your empty veins,
For lenient must will better cleanse the reins.
Francis.
Verse 14
Peter, standing up with the eleven - They probably spoke by turns, not altogether; but Peter began the discourse.
All ye that dwell at Jerusalem - Οἱ κατοικουντες would be better translated by the word sojourn, because these were not inhabitants of Judea, but the strangers mentioned in [Act 2:9-11], who had come up to the feast.
Verse 15
But the third hour of the day - That is, about nine o'clock in the morning, previously to which the Jews scarcely ever ate or drank, for that hour was the hour of prayer. This custom appears to have been so common that even the most intemperate among the Jews were not known to transgress it; Peter therefore spoke with confidence when he said, these are not drunken - seeing it is but the third hour of the day, previously to which even the intemperate did not use wine.
Verse 16
Spoken by the prophet Joel - The prophecy which he delivered so long ago is just now fulfilled; and this is another proof that Jesus whom ye have crucified is the Messiah.
Verse 17
In the last days - The time of the Messiah; and so the phrase was understood among the Jews.
I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh - Rabbi Tanchum says, "When Moses laid his hands upon Joshua, the holy blessed God said, In the time of the old text, each individual prophet prophesied; but, in the times of the Messiah, all the Israelites shall be prophets." And this they build on the prophecy quoted in this place by Peter.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy - The word prophesy is not to be understood here as implying the knowledge and discovery of future events; but signifies to teach and proclaim the great truths of God, especially those which concerned redemption by Jesus Christ.
Your young men shall see visions, etc. - These were two of the various ways in which God revealed himself under the Old Testament. Sometimes he revealed himself by a symbol, which was a sufficient proof of the Divine presence: fire was the most ordinary, as it was the most expressive, symbol. Thus he appeared to Moses on Mount Horeb, and afterwards at Sinai; to Abraham, Genesis 15:1-21; to Elijah, [1Kgs 19:11], [1Kgs 19:12]. At other times he revealed himself by angelic ministry: this was frequent, especially in the days of the patriarchs, of which we find many instances in the book of Genesis.
By dreams he discovered his will in numerous instances: see the remarkable case of Joseph, [Gen 37:5], [Gen 37:9]; of Jacob, [Gen 28:1], etc.; [Gen 46:2], etc.; of Pharaoh, [Gen 41:1-7]; of Nebuchadnezzar, [Dan 4:10-17]. For the different ways in which God communicated the knowledge of his will to mankind, see the note on [Gen 15:1].
Verse 18
On my servants and on my handmaidens - This properly means persons of the lowest condition, such as male and female slaves. As the Jews asserted that the spirit of prophecy never rested upon a poor man, these words are quoted to show that, under the Gospel dispensation, neither bond nor free, male nor female, is excluded from sharing in the gifts and graces of the Divine Spirit.
Verse 19
I will show wonders - It is likely that both the prophet and the apostle refer to the calamities that fell upon the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, and the fearful signs and portents that preceded those calamities. See the notes on [Mat 24:5-7] (note), where these are distinctly related.
Blood, fire, and vapour of smoke - Skirmishes and assassinations over the land, and wasting the country with fire and sword.
Verse 20
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood - These are figurative representations of eclipses, intended most probably to point out the fall of the civil and ecclesiastical state in Judea: see the notes on [Mat 24:29]. That the Sun is darkened when a total eclipse takes place, and that the Moon appears of a bloody hue in such circumstances, every person knows.
Verse 21
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved - The predicted ruin is now impending; and only such as receive the Gospel of the Son of God shall be saved. And that none but the Christians did escape, when God poured out these judgments, is well known; and that All the Christians did escape, not one of them perishing in these devastations, stands attested by the most respectable authority. See the note on [Mat 24:13].
Verse 22
A man approved of God - Αποδεδειγμενον, celebrated, famous. The sense of the verse seems to be this: Jesus of Nazareth, a man sent of God, and celebrated among you by miracles, wonders, and signs; and all these done in such profusion as had never been done by the best of your most accredited prophets. And these signs, etc., were such as demonstrated his Divine mission.