6 and on their resisting and speaking evil, having shaken `his' garments, he said unto them, `Your blood `is' upon your head -- I am clean; henceforth to the nations I will go on.'
And the hearer hath heard the voice of the trumpet, and he hath not taken warning, And come in doth the sword, and taketh him away, His blood is on his head.
In usury he hath given, and increase taken, And he liveth: he doth not live, All these abominations he hath done, He doth surely die, his blood is on him.
and they having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, came to Iconium,
also, my lap I have shaken, and I say, `Thus doth God shake out every man, who doth not perform this thing, from his house, and from his labour; yea, thus is he shaken out and empty;' and all the assembly say, `Amen,' and praise Jehovah; and the people do according to this thing.
In My saying to the wicked, O wicked one -- thou dost surely die, And thou hast not spoken to warn the wicked from his way, He -- the wicked -- in his iniquity doth die, And his blood from thy hand I require. And thou, when thou hast warned the wicked of his way, to turn back from it, And he hath not turned back from his way, He in his iniquity doth die, And thou thy soul hast delivered.
In My saying to the wicked: Thou dost surely die; and thou hast not warned him, nor hast spoken to warn the wicked from his wicked way, so that he doth live; he -- the wicked -- in his iniquity dieth, and his blood from thy hand I require. And thou, because thou hast warned the wicked, and he hath not turned back from his wickedness, and from his wicked way, he in his iniquity dieth, and thou thy soul hast delivered.
as also in Hosea He saith, `I will call what `is' not My people -- My people; and her not beloved -- Beloved, and it shall be -- in the place where it was said to them, Ye `are' not My people; there they shall be called sons of the living God.'
What, then, shall we say? that nations who are not pursuing righteousness did attain to righteousness, and righteousness that `is' of faith, and Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, at a law of righteousness did not arrive; wherefore? because -- not by faith, but as by works of law; for they did stumble at the stone of stumbling, according as it hath been written, `Lo, I place in Sion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence; and every one who is believing thereon shall not be ashamed.'
I say, then, Did they stumble that they might fall? let it not be! but by their fall the salvation `is' to the nations, to arouse them to jealousy; and if the fall of them `is' the riches of a world, and the diminution of them the riches of nations, how much more the fulness of them? For to you I speak -- to the nations -- inasmuch as I am indeed an apostle of nations, my ministration I do glorify; if by any means I shall arouse to jealousy mine own flesh, and shall save some of them, for if the casting away of them `is' a reconciliation of the world, what the reception -- if not life out of the dead?
for ye became imitators, brethren, of the assemblies of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus, because such things ye suffered, even ye, from your own countrymen, as also they from the Jews, who did both put to death the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and did persecute us, and God they are not pleasing, and to all men `are' contrary, forbidding us to speak to the nations that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always, but the anger did come upon them -- to the end!
Be laying hands quickly on no one, nor be having fellowship with sins of others; be keeping thyself pure;
in meekness instructing those opposing -- if perhaps God may give to them repentance to an acknowledging of the truth,
in which they think it strange -- your not running with them to the same excess of dissoluteness, speaking evil,
if ye be reproached in the name of Christ -- happy `are ye', because the Spirit of glory and of God upon you doth rest; in regard, indeed, to them, he is evil-spoken of, and in regard to you, he is glorified;
`And into whatever city ye do enter, and they may not receive you, having gone forth to its broad places, say, And the dust that hath cleaved to us, from your city, we do wipe off against you, but this know ye, that the reign of God hath come nigh to you;
`For any man who revileth his father and his mother is certainly put to death; his father and his mother he hath reviled: his blood `is' on him.
`And a man who lieth with his father's wife -- the nakedness of his father he hath uncovered -- both of them are certainly put to death; their blood `is' on them. `And a man who lieth with his daughter-in-law -- both of them are certainly put to death; confusion they have made; their blood `is' on them.
`And whoever may not receive you nor hear your words, coming forth from that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet,
`Because of this I say to you, that the reign of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruit;
and all the people answering said, `His blood `is' upon us, and upon our children!'
and as many as may not receive you, going forth from that city, even the dust from your feet shake off, for a testimony against them.'
and the Jews having seen the multitudes, were filled with zeal, and did contradict the things spoken by Paul -- contradicting and speaking evil. And speaking boldly, Paul and Barnabas said, `To you it was necessary that first the word of God be spoken, and seeing ye do thrust it away, and do not judge yourselves worthy of the life age-during, lo, we do turn to the nations; for so hath the Lord commanded us: I have set thee for a light of nations -- for thy being for salvation unto the end of the earth.'
and when certain were hardened and were disbelieving, speaking evil of the way before the multitude, having departed from them, he did separate the disciples, every day reasoning in the school of a certain Tyrannus. And this happened for two years so that all those dwelling in Asia did hear the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks,
and in every synagogue, often punishing them, I was constraining `them' to speak evil, being also exceedingly mad against them, I was also persecuting `them' even unto strange cities.
but to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem, to all the region also of Judea, and to the nations, I was preaching to reform, and to turn back unto God, doing works worthy of reformation;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 18
Commentary on Acts 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
In this chapter we have,
Act 18:1-6
We do not find that Paul was much persecuted at Athens, nor that he was driven thence by any ill usage, as he was from those places where the Jews had or could make any interest; but this reception at Athens being cold, and little prospect of doing good there, he departed from Athens, leaving the care of those there who believed with Dionysius; and thence he came to Corinth, where he was now instrumental in planting a church that became on many accounts considerable. Corinth was the chief city of Achaia, now a province of the empire, a rich and splendid city. Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum-It is not permitted every man to see Corinth. The country thereabouts at this day is called the Morea. Now here we have,
Act 18:7-11
Here we are told,
Act 18:12-17
We have here an account of some disturbance given to Paul and his friends at Corinth, but no great harm done, nor much hindrance given to the work of Christ there.
Act 18:18-23
We have here Paul in motion, as we have had him at Corinth for some time at rest, but in both busy, very busy, in the service of Christ; if he sat still, if he went about, still it was to do good. Here is,
Act 18:24-28
The sacred history leaves Paul upon his travels, and goes here to meet Apollos at Ephesus, and to give us some account of him, which was necessary to our understanding some passages in Paul's epistles.