6

meaning appears to be this, Now there were in the church at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas, and 'Simeon, and Lucius, and Manaen, and also Saul, whose 'character and station in the church is well known from 'the preceding history of him in this book.' Whereby indeed he evidently appears to be an apostle.

3. I add one thing more, that I may fully clear up this point. The designation, mentioned, ch. xiii. 2, 3, could not be to the apostleship. For "Paul was not an apostle of inen, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father," Gal. i. 1. Moreover, it is here expressly said, that this ordination, or appointment, at Antioch, was to a particular work or service. "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted,,the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." And it might be said, that" here is no consecration to an office, but rather a benediction for the particular work upon which they were now sent.

60

66

6

As Mr. Hallett says, in the place before quoted, They were not now separated for the work of the ministry in general, but were separated from the other teachers at Antioch, to go abroad and propagate the gospel in other 'countries. When they went out upon this important work, nothing could be more agreeable, than for the church at 'Antioch to pray God to give Barnabas and Paul good success which accordingly they did. They now recom'mended them to the grace" or favour" of God," as St. Luke says, concerning this solemn transaction, ch. xiv. 26. And after this again, when Paul was sent abroad another 'time to preach the gospel where he had preached it before, he was in the same manner recommended to the grace of God, as it is written, ch. xv. 40, " Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren to the grace" or favour of God." Since therefore both times, when 'Paul went out from Antioch, to preach the gospel to the 'same people, the evangelist says, in the same words, that 6 he was 66 recommended to the grace of God;" we cannot suppose that he was any more first made an apostle of the Gentiles at the former, than at the latter time of his being ' recommended.'

Upon the whole, it appears to me highly probable, from

n Porro, vere ut dicamus, nil ordinationis est in Antiochensium prophetarum χειροθεσία -Eam ergo Paulus Barnabasque manuum susceperunt impositionem, quæ benedictionis est, non consecrationis. S. Basnag. ann. 45. num. iii. • Vol. ii. p. 323.

all the accounts which we have of Paul's wonderful conversion, in Acts ix. xxii. and xxvi, that he received his apostolical commission from the mouth of Christ in person, when he called to him from heaven, and spoke to him in the way to Damascus. And especially does this appear from Acts xxvi. 15-20, where Paul expressly relates his commission, and the time of it, and declares, as seems to me, that all which had been hitherto done by him, in preaching the gospel to the very time when he was imprisoned, had been done in virtue of that commission. "And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. But arise, and stand upon thy feet for I have appeared to thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister, and a witness, both of those things which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto thee: delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I now send thee, dis 8ς νυν σε ажоστελλw, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light.Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: but showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles; that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance."

This also exactly suits the manner in which the other apostles were appointed. They were apostles from the time that Jesus Christ called them to attend upon him. See Matt. iv. 18-22; Luke vi. 13. And he often discoursed to them concerning their commission in its full extent, and the difficulties they would meet with in the discharge of it: giving them also various directions relating to their conduct, when they should come abroad in the world. See Matt. x. throughout, and xvi. 18, 19, and many like places in the other gospels. And before he left them, he expressly said: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations," Matt. xxviii. 19. But they did not at first understand the full extent of their commission, nor presently execute it. At the first they preached to Jews only. And it was several years after Christ's ascension before they preached to Gentiles. So Paul was from the beginning called, and appointed to be an apostle : and by degrees he was qualified for it as his commission opened. And in time he was called out by Divine Providence to the full execution of it. But all along he was an apostle, and acted and taught as such: first preaching to Jews at Damascus, and Jerusalem, and Judea, and other parts, and then to Gentiles. So he plainly says to Agrippa in the place recited just now.

VI. Having thus settled the time of Paul's conversion and apostleship according to the best of my ability, I now intend to give an account of his travels in the service of the gospel. This I do for the sake of showing the date of his writings. And it would be shorter, and more agreeable on divers accounts, to take in his epistles as we go along. But there being debates about the time of several of them, I think it will be preferable to write his history, without interruption, as briefly as we can, and then observe the order of his epistles.

Paul, having been baptized by Ananias at Damascus, stayed a short time with the disciples there, and then went into Arabia: where, it is very likely, he might meet with some believers. For Arabians are expressly mentioned, Acts ii. 11, among the Jews and proselytes, who heard the apostle Peter's first sermon at Jerusalem after the descent of the Holy Ghost. At which time many were converted to a faith in Jesus Christ. Acts ii. 41.

Whilst Paul was in Arabia, it is reasonable to think, that he was fully instructed, by special P revelation, in the doctrine preached by Jesus Christ, when here on earth, and all the things said and done by him, and his sufferings, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the fulfilment of the ancient prophecies in Jesus, the Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of Abraham, and received also the Holy Ghost, in a measure equal to that of other apostles. Whereby he was qualified to preach the gospel, and to testify the resurrection of Jesus, and to prove him to be the Christ, without receiving either instruction or gifts from other apostles.

Having been some time in Arabia, he returned to Damascus, "And straightway he preached in the synagogues, that Jesus is the Christ," or "the Son of God." This he did with such strength and cogency of argument, as to "confound the Jews, which dwelt at Damascus." They being greatly provoked, and forming a design upon his life, the disciples found means to provide for his escape. Whereupon he went to Jerusalem, Acts ix. 20-25.

Some think that Paul preached at Damascus soon after he had been baptized by Ananias, and that he also preached in Arabia, and that he had preached three years, before he came to Jerusalem after his conversion. Pearson supposeth P Concerning the manner of the revelations now vouchsafed to Paul, may be seen Lightfoot in his Comm. upon Acts ix. 1, in the first volume of his works, p. 791. Il veut montrer, qu'il avoit prêché l'évangile trois ans avant que d'avoir vu aucun Apôstre, &c. Beaus. sur Galat. i. 18. Saulus in Arabiâ moratur, ubi per revelationem accepit plenam a Deo notitiam evangelii, ad quod prædicandum immediate vocatus est.

that Paul, whilst in Arabia, received by revelation, a full knowledge of the gospel. And says, that when he returned from Arabia to Damascus, he preached there. But I do not perceive him to say, that Paul preached in Arabia, or at Damascus, presently after his conversion.

To me it seems, that Paul did not preach at Damascus presently after he had been baptized, but first went into Arabia, and then returned to Damascus. And being now qualified by divine revelation, and by diligent reading the scriptures of the Old Testament, during his recess in Arabia, and being fully determined, after a competent time of humiliation for past conduct, and serious meditation, in which he had well weighed the difficulties of the work he was entering upon, he began to preach Christ in the synagogues of Damascus. I am confirmed in this opinion by the interpretation of an author, whose words I place below. Nor does St. Paul, that I remember, any where say, that he preached in Arabia. He makes a large, and, seemingly, very particular enumeration of places and people, to whom he had preached, in his discourse before Agrippa, without taking any notice of Arabia. Acts xxvi. 20, "I showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, and turn to God."

t

66

S

Jerom observing, that St. Luke had said nothing of Paul's being in Arabia, is inclined to think that he did not discharge any part of his apostolical office in that country.

Saülus ex Arabiâ redit Damascum, satis in officio per revelationem instructus. Annal. Paulin. A. D. 36, 37, p. 2.

St. Paul, being restored to his sight by Ananias, stayed not long at Da'mascus, but retired forthwith into Arabia, as he himself tells us, Gal. i. 16, 17. 'Whereas it is said, Acts ix. 19, 20, "And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples at Damascus, and straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues." Here the word, "straightway," does not relate to Saul's first coming to Damascus, but to his ' return thither, after he had been in Arabia. For Acts ix. 19, 20, are to be ⚫ rendered and paraphrased thus: "And, when he had received meat, he was strengthened." Presently after which, according to Gal. i. 16, he went into Arabia, and, having been there instructed in the gospel by the revelation of ⚫ Jesus Christ, according to Gal. i. 12, he returned again to Damascus." Then,” or" now, was Paul certain days with the disciples at Damascus, and straightway," namely, after his return out of Arabia," he preached Christ in the synagogues." Dr. Edw. Wells's Historical Geography of the N. T. Part II. p. 20, 21. Lucam vero idcirco de Arabià præterîsse, quia forsitan nihil dignum apostolatu in Arabiâ perpetrârat: et ea potius compendiosa narratione dixisse, quæ digna Christi evangelio videbantur. Nec hoc segnitiæ apostoli deputandum, si frustra in Arabiâ fuerit; sed quod aliqua dispensatio et Dei præceptum fuerit, ut taceret. Hieron. in Gal. i. 17. T. ÍV. P. I. p. 235.

But then, if Paul was silent there, he thinks it was not owing to the apostle's backwardness to speak: but the divine wisdom appointed that it should be so.

Theophylact observes, that " the design of the Jews at Damascus to destroy Paul, was not formed presently after his conversion to the faith: but after his return thither from Arabia, at the end of three years, just before his going to Jerusalem.

Indeed, it is very likely, that if Paul had preached at Damascus, soon after his first arrival there, he would have met with a most violent onset. And as nothing of that kind is particularly taken notice of, it may be concluded, that he did not then publicly preach in any synagogues: nor was it fit, or becoming, that he should. It was highly proper, that some time should be allotted for retirement, after such a course, as he had been in, before he began to preach and teach publicly in the name of Jesus.

Though St. Luke has not mentioned the journey into Arabia, nor the time of Paul's absence from Damascus, he knew it very well, and has hinted it, saying, "And after many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to slay him," Acts ix. 23.

Mr. Beausobre says, that Paul's journey into Arabia should be placed between ver. 22 and 23, of the ninth chapter of the Acts. I should rather place it between ver. 19 and 20, of that chapter.

This period of three years, or three years and somewhat more, from Paul's conversion to his coming to Jerusalem, reaches, according to our computation, from near the end of the year 36, to near the end of 39, or the beginning of the year 40, or from the beginning of the year 37, to the former part of the year 40.

I cannot allow myself to speak positively, where there is not the evidence of certainty. I do not know in what month Paul was converted, or came to Jerusalem. Of such things as these it is sufficient to say, that they happened in such a year, or thereabout.

VII. Paul having been full three years at Damascus, and in its neighbourhood, and in Arabia, he came to Jerusalem. Gal. i. 18," And when he was come thither, he essayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple," Acts ix. 26.

-ότι ἡ επιβολη εν Δαμασκῳ εκ ευθεως μετα το πιςευσαι γεγονεν αλλα μετα το ανελθειν αυτόν απο Αραβίας μετα ετη τρια. Και οὕτως γεγονεν ἡ προς τα Ιεροσόλυμα ανοδος Theoph. in Act. Ap. p. 94. ▾ Comment. sur Gal. i. 17.