Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 1. The battle of Aphek 4:1b-11
  The Philistines, as we have already seen in Judges, were Israel's primary enemy to the west at this time. Samson, too, fought the Philistines (Judg. 13-16).52There are about 150 references to the Philistines in 1 and 2 Samuel...
• The trial before Pilate 27:11-26 (cf. Mark 15:2-15; Luke 23:3-25; John 18:33-19:16)
  Pilate was a cruel ruler who made little attempt to understand the Jews whom he hated.1047He had treated them unfairly and brutally on many occasions, but recently Caesar had rebuked him severely.1048This probably accounts fo...
• The Roman soldiers' mockery of Jesus 15:16-20 (cf. Matt. 27:27-31; John 19:16-17a)
  15:16 Praetorium is a Latin loan word that describes a Roman governor's official residence (cf. Matt. 27:27; John 18:28, 33; 19:9; Acts 23:35). The Roman soldiers escorted Jesus to the courtyard (Gr. aule, cf. vv. 54, 66) of ...
• I. Introduction 1:1-4
  Luke introduced his Gospel in a classical literary fashion."It was customary among the great Greek and Hellenistic historians, including the first-century Jewish writer Josephus, to explain and justify their work in a preface...
• 1. The arrest of Jesus and the identification of the high priests 18:12-14
  John began his account of Jesus' trials with a brief description of His arrest and by identifying the chief religious leaders who examined Him.18:12 The commander (Gr. chiliarchos, cf. Acts 22:24, 26, 27, 28; 23:17, 19, 22) i...
• Structure
  Longenecker identified five phenomena about the structure of Acts that the reader needs to recognize to appreciate what Luke sought to communicate."1. It begins, like the [Third] Gospel, with an introductory section of distin...
• Outline
  I. The witness in Jerusalem 1:1-6:7A. The founding of the church 1:1-2:461. The resumptive preface to the book 1:1-52. The command to witness 1:6-83. The ascension of Jesus 1:9-114. Jesus' appointment of a twelfth apostle 1:1...
• 2. The command to witness 1:6-8
  The key to the apostles' successful fulfillment of Jesus' commission was their baptism with and consequent indwelling by the Holy Spirit. Without this divine enablement they would only have been able to follow Jesus' example,...
• 3. Stephen's death 7:54-8:1a
  Stephen's speech caused a revolution in the Jews' attitude toward the disciples of Jesus, and his martyrdom began the first persecution of the Christians.Luke recorded the Sanhedrin's response to Stephen's message to document...
• Saul's calling from the Lord 9:10-19a
  9:10-12 Evidently Ananias was not a refugee from Jerusalem (22:12) but a resident of Damascus. He, too, received a vision of the Lord Jesus (v. 17) to whom he submitted willingly (cf. 1 Sam. 3:4, 10). Jesus gave Ananias speci...
• Cornelius' vision 10:1-8
  10:1 Caesarea stood on the Mediterranean coast about 30 miles north of Joppa. Formerly its name was Strato's Tower, but Herod the Great renamed it in honor of Augustus Caesar, his patron and the adopted heir of Julius Caesar....
• 2. The mission to Cyprus 13:4-12
  Luke recorded the events of Paul's first missionary journey to document the extension of the church into new territory and to illustrate the principles and methods by which the church grew. He also did so to show God's supern...
• The riot in Ephesus 19:23-41
  This incident reveals more about the effects of the gospel on Ephesian society and religion (cf. vv. 13-20)."Luke's purpose in presenting this vignette is clearly apologetic, in line with his argument for the religio licitast...
• Paul's address to the Ephesian elders 20:17-35
  "Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders is the nearest approximation to the Pauline letters in Acts. Its general content recalls how in his letters Paul encouraged, warned, and exhorted his converts. Moreover, its the...
• The riot in the temple 21:27-36
  21:27-28 The Jews from Asia, possibly from Ephesus, were obviously unbelievers. They charged Paul with the same kind of crimes the unbelieving Jews had accused Stephen of committing (6:11, 13-14). The Jews permitted Gentiles ...
• The Jews' plot to kill Paul 23:12-24
  23:12-15 Paul's adversaries (cf. 21:27-29) evidently agreed together not to taste food or drink again until Paul was dead. Their plan was to have the chief priests and elders of Israel ask the Roman commander to return Paul t...
• Lysias' letter to Felix 23:25-30
  23:25 The commander had to send a copy of the background of Paul's case along with Paul himself. Luke wrote that what follows in the text was substantially what the letter contained.23:26 This is the first mention of the comm...
• Paul's introduction to Felix 23:33-35
  23:33 The governor (procurator) of Judea at this time was Antonius Felix (52-59 A.D.).890Pontius Pilate occupied this office from 26-36 A.D. Felix had a reputation for being a harsh ruler who had risen from a lowly background...
• The presentation of charges against Paul 24:1-9
  24:1 The heat of the Jews' hatred of Paul is obvious from their speedy trip to Caesarea. The five days seem to describe the period from Paul's arrest in the temple courtyard to this trial (cf. v. 11; 21:27). The Jews' antagon...
• The conclusion of Paul's hearing 24:22-23
  24:22 Felix probably gained his knowledge of Christianity from several sources: his current Jewish wife who was a Herodian, and Romans and Jews from Judea and other parts of the empire. He sought to preserve the peace by dela...
• Festus' visit to Jerusalem 25:1-5
  25:1 Portius Festus was a more moderate and wise governor than Felix.910We can see his wisdom in his decision to meet with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem soon after he took office. The province in view was Syria, which conta...
• Herod Agrippa II's visit to Festus 25:13-22
  The charges against Paul, and particularly his innocence, are the point of this pericope.25:13 This King Agrippa was Marcus Julius Agrippa II, the son of Herod Agrippa I (12:1-11), the grandson of Aristobulus, and the great g...
• The preliminaries of the hearing 25:23-27
  25:23 Festus used this occasion to honor Agrippa and Bernice before the local Caesarean leaders. There were five commanders based in Caesarea each with responsibility for 1,000 soldiers. They all had the same authority as Cla...
• The verdict of Agrippa 26:30-32
  By rising to his feet Agrippa signaled the end of the hearing. Everyone else rose out of respect for him. Luke implied that everyone present concurred that Paul was completely innocent. This had previously been the verdict of...
• Paul's first conference with the Roman Jewish leaders 28:17-22
  28:17-20 Paul began immediately to prepare to witness. He wanted to see the leaders of the Jewish community soon for two reasons. He wanted to preach the gospel to them as Jews first. He also wanted to take the initiative in ...
• Appendix 2
  Sequence of Paul's ActivitiesDateEventReferenceBirth in TarsusActs 22:3Early life and theological education in Jerusalem under GamalielActs 22:334Participation in Stephen's stoning outside JerusalemActs 7:57-8:134Leadership i...
• Appendix
  Sequence of Paul's ActivitiesDateEventReferenceBirth in TarsusActs 22:3Early life and theological education in Jerusalem under GamalielActs 22:334Participation in Stephen's stoning outside JerusalemActs 7:57-8:134Leadership i...
• 3. Paul's service and sufferings 11:16-33
  To answer his critics and prove the extent of his own service and sufferings for Christ, Paul related many of his painful experiences as an apostle.11:16 Paul apologized again for having to resort to mentioning these experien...
• B. Interdependence with other apostles 2:1-10
  Paul related other events of his previous ministry, specifically his meeting with the Jerusalem church leaders. He did so to establish for his readers that although he was not dependent on anyone but God for his message and m...
• 2. Paul's anticipated deliverance 1:19-26
  At this point Paul's thinking turned from what had already occurred because of his imprisonment to what he anticipated happening in the future. He referred to this so his readers would uphold him in their prayers and feel enc...
• A. Salutation 1:1-2
  Paul began his letter with this salutation to introduce himself to his readers and to wish God's blessing on them.1:1 Paul cited his apostolic calling and office to lend authority to what follows. "Paul"was the name the apost...
• IV. CONCLUDING MATTERS 22-25
  v. 22 Paul expected release from his house arrest in Rome soon (cf. Acts 23:29; 24:13; 25:25-27; 26:31-32; Phil. 2:24). This happened, but we have no record that Paul did or did not fulfill his desire to visit Philemon. The p...
• B. Protecting the Truth vv. 7-11
  Next John moved on to his second purpose. He wrote to encourage his readers to resist the false teachers who were distorting the truth and deceiving some of the believers."The presbyter's attention now moves from the existenc...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• III. Note The Source Of Deliverance.
  The Roman garrison was posted in the fortress of Antonia, which commanded the Temple from a higher level at the north-west angle of the enclosure. Tidings came up' to the officer in command, Claudius Lysias by name (Acts 23:2...
• A Plot Detected
  And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13. And they were more than forty which had made this consp...
• I. The Wicked Plotteth Against The Just.
  The Lord will laugh at him. The Psalmist's experience and his faith were both repeated in Paul's case. His speech before the Council had set Pharisees and Sadducees squabbling, and the former had swallowed his Christianity fo...