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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 9:36-43

Here we have another miracle wrought by Peter, for the confirming of the gospel, and which exceeded the former?the raising of Tabitha to life when she had been for some time dead. Here is, I. The life, and death, and character of Tabitha, on whom this miracle was wrought, Acts 9:36, 37. 1. She lived at Joppa, a sea-port town in the tribe of Dan, where Jonah took shipping to go to Tarshish, now called Japho. 2. Her name was Tabitha, a Hebrew name, the Greek for which is Dorcas, both signifying... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 9:32-43

9:32-43 In the course of a tour of the whole area, Peter came down to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man called Aeneas who had been bed-ridden for eight years. He was paralysed. So Peter said to him, "Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Rise and make your bed." At once he stood up and all who lived at Lydda and at Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. In Joppa there was a disciple called Tabitha--Dorcas is the translation of her name. She was full of good works and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 9:36

Now there was at Joppa ,.... The same with Japho, Joshua 19:46 a sea port town in the tribe of Dan, said by some historians F23 Mela, l. 1. Solin. Polyhistor. c. 47. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 13. to be a very ancient one, even before the flood. It is now called Jaffa, and its name, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies beauty: some say it had its name from Jope, the daughter of Aeolus, the wife of Cepheus, the founder of it; and others derive it from the name of Japhet, because it looks... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 9:36

Now there was at Joppa - This was a sea-port town on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about a day's journey from Jerusalem. It is supposed to be the same which is called in the Old Testament Japho, which belonged to the tribe of Dan, Joshua 19:46 . It is at present called Jaffa, and is still a place of considerable note. A certain disciple named Tabitha - This word is more properly Syriac than Hebrew. Tebitho is the word in the Syriac version, and is their manner of writing the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 9:36

Verse 36 36.There followeth a more famous token of Christ’s power, by how much it is more hard to restore life to a dead body, than to restore health to a man that is sick. But Luke doth first commend the person of Tabitha on whom the miracle was showed, and that with a double title; to wit, that she was Christ’s disciple, and that she approved her faith with good works and alms. He hath oftentimes already put this word disciple for a Christian man; and lest we should think that that name was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 9:31-43

Works of peace. It is a bright picture of happy and prosperous Church life that here opens. Peace "lay like a shaft of light athwart the land" of Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria. The work of edification, ever silent and sure like the growth of the tall palm, went on. There was the spirit of reverence and the sense of comfort and of joy in the presence of the Holy Spirit. That nation is happy whose life contributes few incidents that startle, changes that dismay, revolutions and wars that... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 9:32-43

The fisher of men. "The Church had rest," we read in Acts 9:31 , "throughout all Judaea and Galilee." Not so the primate of the Church. The Church's rest from persecution was his season of work. A brief glimpse of his work may be edifying to us. We saw something of his ministry at Jerusalem in the earlier chapters of this book—preaching, praying, praising, healing, protesting, resisting, suffering, perplexing his enemies, exhorting and comforting the saints. We saw him carefully building... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 9:32-43

The miraculous and the supernatural. In these verses we have two instances of the miraculous; and we may consider what was the worth of that element then, and why it has passed away; we may also consider the truth that the supernatural—the directly though not visibly Divine—still abides and will continually endure. I. THE RATIONALE OF THE CHRISTIAN MIRACLE , wrought in the apostolic age. Then it was (or seems to us to have been) necessary. 1. It was regarded as of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 9:36

Joppa ; now Jaffa, the ancient seaport of Jerusalem ( Jonah 1:3 ; 2 Chronicles 2:16 ). It was in the tribe of Dan ( Joshua 19:46 ). A certain disciple ; a female disciple, as the word means; μαθήτρια only occurs here in the New Testament and rarely elsewhere. Tabitha ; the Aramean form of the Hebrew יבִץְ , a gazelle, or in Greek Dorcas. The beauty and grace of the gazelle made it an appropriate name for a woman. Some have thought, with probability, that she was a... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Acts 9:36-43

The raising of Dorcas. The contrast between the ancient and modern world, changing somewhat the relation of almsdeeds to the rest of Christian life; but the poor always with us. The special province of woman in the Church. The individuality of the charity, not a society, but Dorcas the woman. I. FAITH WORKING BY LOVE . 1. Show that Dorcas was not a mere philanthropic worker, but a true believer. 2. The disciples at once sent for Peter, believing that he... read more

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