Page:Lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ (1836).djvu/166

 cost, when, being gathered from all parts, they heard for the first time of the Messiah, from the mouths of his apostles, and saw their words supported by such wonders. Among these was a native of Cyprus, by name Joseph, a Levite, who so distinguished himself by his labors of love among them, and gave such promise of excellence as a teacher of the new faith which he had adopted, that the apostles honored him with a new name, by which he was ever after known, instead of his previous one. They called him Barnabas, which means "the son of exhortation," no doubt referring to those talents which he afterwards displayed as an eminent and successful minister of the gospel.

Raised a voice.—This is literal; and can mean nothing more than the common modern expression, "unite in prayer," with which it is perfectly synonymous. The judicious Bloomfield (Annot. in Acts iv. 24,) observes, "We cannot rationally suppose that this prefatory address was (as some conjecture) not pronounced extempore, but a pre-composed form of prayer, since the words advert to circumstances not known until that very time; as, for instance, the threatenings of the Sanhedrim, (verse 29,) of which they had been but just then informed; and the words [Greek: akousantes homothumadon êran phônên] will not allow us to imagine any interval between the report of Peter and John, and the prayer." Kuinoel's view is precisely the same.

Were in the highest favor with the people.—Very different from the common translation, "great grace was upon them all." But the Greek word, [Greek: Charis], (Kharis,) like the Latin gratia, (in the Vulgate,) means primarily "favor;" and the only question is, whether it refers to the favor of God or of man. Beza, Whitby, Doddridge, &c. prefer the former, but Kuinoel justly argues from a comparison of the parallel passages, (ii. 47, and iv. 34,) that it refers to their increasing influence on the attention and regard of the people, which was indeed the great object of all their preaching and miracles. Grotius, Rosenmueller, Bloomfield and others, also support this view.

Deposited in trust.—This is a free, but just version of [Greek: etithoun para tous podas], (etithoun para tous podas,) Acts iv. 35, literally and faithfully rendered in the common translation by "laid at the feet;" but this was an expression very common not only in Hebrew, but in Greek and Latin usage, for the idea of "deposit in trust;" as is shown by Rosenmueller's apt quotations from Cicero, "ante pedes praetoris in foro expensum est auri pondo centum," pro Flac. c. 28; and from Heliodorus, [Greek: panta ta eautou tithenai para tous podas basileôs]. But Kuinoel seems not to think of these, and quotes it as a mere Hebraism.

Barnabas, son of exhortation.—This is the translation of this name, which seems best authorized. A fuller account of it will be given in the life of Barnabas.

ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA.

The great praise and universal gratitude which followed Barnabas, for this noble and self-denying act of pure generosity, was soon after the occasion of a most shameful piece of imposition, ending in an awful expression of divine vengeance. Led by the hope of cheaply winning the same praise and honor which Barnabas had acquired by his simple-minded liberality, a man named Ananias, with the knowledge and aid of his wife Sapphira, having sold a piece of land, brought only a part of the price to the apostles, and deposited it in the general charity-fund, alleging at the same time, that this was the whole amount obtained for the land. But Peter, having reason to believe that this was only a