Atos 9

Bede

Atos 9:1

Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. Evidently present by afflicting with murders, and deterring the absent with threats. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:4

Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? He did not say: Why do you persecute my members? but why do you persecute me? because he still suffers the unrighteous in his own body, which is the Church. He even declares that benefits bestowed upon his members are done unto him when he says: I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat (Matt. 25). And he added in explanation: As long as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me (Ibid.). — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:5

I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. He did not say: I am God, I am the Son of God, but he says: Accept the weakness of my humility and lay down the scales of your pride. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:6

Rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you must do. He did not immediately show him what was to be done but advised that it would be heard later in the city, so that he would stand more firmly in good things as he had previously fallen completely from his former error. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:8

And when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. He could not see well again unless he was first properly blinded, and excluding his own confounding wisdom, would he commit himself to faith in all things. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:9

And he was without sight for three days. Because he had not believed that the Lord had conquered death by rising on the third day, he is now instructed by his own example, who would change the darkness of three days with the returning light. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:11-12

Behold, he prays and sees a man named Ananias entering and laying hands on him. In Greek, it is held thus: And he saw in a vision a man, that is, ἐν ὁράματι, which name Juvencus the priest also used in the evangelical poem, saying: Make all ignorant of this vision. Therefore, it appears that during those three days, in which he, being blinded, awaited the grace of future light, he was by no means idle or torpid, but rather elevated by divine illumination, he explored heavenly secrets; and, unless I am mistaken, it is credible that at that time he was taught the mystery of the evangelical dispensation, of which he himself boasts to the Galatians, saying: For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but through a revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. I). And shortly afterwards: But when it pleased Him who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem, etc. (Ibid.). Also, the text of this little book, which is appended: He was with the disciples who were at Damascus for some days, and immediately in the synagogues he preached Jesus, that He is the Son of God (Acts IX), in no way asserts that he learned anything from men, but rather confirms that he immediately took up the ministry of an eminent teacher after baptism. Certainly, he is to be compared to him of whom it is written: Because the word of the Lord set him on fire (Psalm CIV). — Retractions on Acts

Atos 9:16

For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. He should not (he says) be feared as a persecutor, but rather be embraced as a brother, who is ready to endure the adversities which he had inflicted upon the saints, together with the saints. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:18

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes. It is said that the entire body of the dragon is covered with scales. Because the Jews are called serpents and brood of vipers, those who followed their perfidy had covered the eyes of their heart as if with the skin of a serpent. But when the scales fell from his eyes under the hand of Ananias, it was shown in his face that he had already received true light in his mind. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:23-24

The Jews made a council to kill him. But the plot against Paul was known to him; and they watched the gates of the city day and night to kill him. It was not the Jews who kept watch, but the citizens themselves with their king Aretas, as the Apostle himself, who was besieged and escaped, writes to the Galatians. For both Gentiles and Jews, although they disagree among themselves, always agree in the persecution of Christians. — Retractions on Acts

Atos 9:25

But his disciples took him by night. That is, the disciples of Christ. For in Greek, there is no addition of "his", but only "disciples" so that they are understood generally as disciples of Christ or the Church. For Paul had not yet been read as having made disciples but only as having confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:25

They let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket. This kind of escape is still preserved in the Church today when someone, surrounded by the snares of the ancient enemy or the traps of this world, is not saved by his hope and faith. For the wall of Damascus, which is interpreted as drinking blood, is the adversity of the world. King Aretas, who is interpreted as descent, is understood as the devil. The basket, which is usually made of rushes and palm leaves, signifies the conjunction of faith and hope. For the rush signifies the greenness of faith, and the palm signifies the hope of eternal life. Therefore, whoever sees himself surrounded by the wall of adversity, let him quickly ascend by the basket of virtues by which he may escape. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:26

When he had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. In this verse, in Greek, the name Paul is applied: "When Paul had come to Jerusalem," not because at that time he was yet called so, before he converted Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, to the faith of Christ, but he is now called by anticipation in this way, the blessed Luke speaking opportunely: to indicate beforehand that he was to be called Paul, when he first came to Jerusalem after his conversion, and was said to be joined to the apostles, so that where a little earlier he had exited as a proud persecutor of the Church, he now entered as a humble protector of the Church. For since in Latin "paulum" means "little," rightly did he prefer to be called Paul, who did not cease to remain humble amid the greatest works of virtue. Nor is it to be thought that Paul or Peter are Hebrew words, but rather Latin or Greek words, since it is certain Hebrews do not have the letter p in any way. — Retractions on Acts

Atos 9:26

When he had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples. Let us not believe that he came to the apostles in Jerusalem immediately after being baptized, but as he himself wrote to the Galatians, first he went to Arabia and then returned again to Damascus. Then after three years, coming to Jerusalem, he saw Peter and stayed with him for fifteen days. But he did not see any other of the apostles, except James the brother of the Lord. And then, as Luke also follows, he came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. Whether he endured the plots in Damascus the first or second time is not easily evident. For it can also be understood the second time since it is said that after many days were fulfilled, the Jews made a plot to kill him. Therefore, it seems that Luke omits Arabia because he did not preach there, according to what he himself later said to King Agrippa: because I preached first in Damascus, and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:27

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. This is that Barnabas, a Cypriot by race, a Levite, who is said above to have brought the price of his field and laid it at the feet of the apostles. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:27

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and narrated to them how he had seen the Lord on the way, etc. When these things were done, and to which apostles Barnabas brought Paul, Paul himself shows, writing to the Galatians: But when it pleased Him who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, and so forth, until he says: Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother (Galatians 1). Therefore what Luke subsequently says: And he was with them entering and departing out of Jerusalem, it is credible that this was acted during the fifteen days which he asserts himself to have stayed with Peter and James. And as for what follows, he himself in the Epistle says: Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia (Galatians 1), and how this happened Luke thus subsequently insinuates saying: — Retractions on Acts

Atos 9:29

He also spoke and disputed with the Greeks. It is noted that he taught Greeks in Jerusalem and Jews in Damascus, which is a city of the Gentiles, lest perhaps it signifies that Gentiles are to be helped into the city of God and Jews are to fall into the perfidy of the Gentiles. As Isaiah says: And Lebanon shall be turned into Carmel, and Carmel shall be counted as a forest (Isaiah 29). — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:29-30

And he spoke and disputed against the Greeks, but they sought to kill him. When the brethren knew of it, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. For Tarsus is a city of Cilicia, and Caesarea Philippi is also a city of Syria. And when he adds: But he was unknown by face to the churches of Judea, which were in Christ; they had only heard, that he who once persecuted us now preaches the faith which once he ravaged (Galatians 1). This is what Luke had previously stated, that he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple, until they learned from Barnabas narrating it. Therefore, since it is established that Paul came to Jerusalem after three years of his conversion, and was associated with the number of the apostles, still being, as he himself writes, unknown by face to the churches of Judea, which were in Christ, they are greatly mistaken who following apocryphal books think that in the second year after the Lord's passion, he was already ordained as an apostle to the Gentiles with Barnabas. — Retractions on Acts

Atos 9:31

And it was filled with the consolation of the Holy Spirit, or it was multiplied, as it is written in Greek. For what we say as "consolation," in Greek it is παρακλήσει: whence it is clearly evident that the Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete because, enlightening the hearts of the faithful, He multiplies the Church throughout the whole world and fills it with His grace. — Retractions on Acts

Atos 9:31

Indeed, the Church had peace throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria. Where it is said in Latin "throughout all," in Greek it is καθ' ὅλης. Hence, it should be noted that the Church is called Catholic because it is spread throughout the whole world and abides in one peace. — Retractions on Acts

Atos 9:33

He found there a certain man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years. This Aeneas signifies the human race, languishing previously in the pleasure of infirmities, but healed by the work and word of the apostles. For since the world itself is raised up by four directions, and the course of the age is varied by four yearly seasons, anyone who embraces present and fleeting joys is laid out powerless on a bed, counting, as it were, the twice four years in number. Indeed, the bed itself is sloth, where the sick and weak mind rests, that is, in the pleasure of the body and all worldly delight. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:34

Aeneas, the Lord Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your own bed. He who had been cured of paralysis was immediately commanded to rise and make his bed, spiritually suggesting that whoever perceives the foundation of faith in their heart should not only shake off the torpor in which they previously lay fatigued, but also prepare good works in which they can rest. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:36

In Joppa, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is interpreted as Dorcas. That is, gazelle or doe. It signifies souls elevated by the pursuit of virtues but contemptible in the opinion of men. For indeed, blessed Luke would not enhance the interpretation of the name unless he recognized that there was a great mystery in it. For a gazelle or doe are animals similar in nature but differing in size, residing in high mountains, and though seen from afar, they can be discerned by all who come. Hence, they are called dorcades in Greek from the sharpness of their sight. Thus, undoubtedly, the saints dwelling high in the merits of their works, sharply focus their minds on heavenly contemplation, and always vigilantly guard themselves with cautious circumspection. For although these animals are clean according to the law, they are timid and unwarlike, as Martial, expressing their nature, says: The boar is feared for its tusk, the stag defends with its antlers; the harmless does, what are we but prey? Does it not clearly signify those who strive to live simply and walk with a discerning step in action, as if advancing with a cloven hoof and continuously meditating on the word of God? If perchance, through ignorance or weakness, they incur spiritual death, they merit to be revived for the integrity of their sound intention, as it is proved to have happened with Peter himself, to whom what is written about Dorcas can most rightly be applied. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:37

And it happened that in those days she became sick and died. For when the saints, through the frailty of mortal nature, commit some wrong, they fall, as it were, into sudden infirmity in the days of their good works. But when they immediately take to tears, they ascend with hope of recovering their virtue, invoking the help of the saints, recalling their good deeds which they had interrupted, they indeed do what follows. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:37

After they washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber. And other things, which are narrated about Peter's summoning and the showing of Dorcas's alms. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:39

And all the widows stood around him weeping. Widows are the pious thoughts of the penitent soul, which for a time had abandoned the strength of their previous senses, as a wife's governance, and who must most humbly intercede for the sinning soul. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:39

And showing him the tunics and garments, which Dorcas used to make for them. They did not entreat for the deceased with their voices, but by her own works, for almsgiving delivers not only from the second, but also from the first death. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:40

He said: Tabitha, rise. She opened her eyes, and upon seeing Peter, she sat up. The most just order of the one arising is that she first opens the eyes of the mind, and then, upon hearing Peter's voice, she sits up, reclaiming the light of her circumspection which she had lost and lives according to the teaching of those who had helped her. — Commentary on Acts

Atos 9:41

Giving her his hand, he raised her. Tabitha rises at the touch of Peter's hand because a soul languishing in sins recovers in no better way than by the examples of the saints. — Commentary on Acts