Acts 1:14 - Exposition

With one accord continued steadfastly for continued with one accord, A.V.; prayer for prayer and supplication, A.V. and T.R. The women . St. Luke, in his Gospel, makes frequent mention of the women who followed our Lord, and generally of things that happened to women (see Luke 23:1-56 . 27, 49, 55; Luke 24:10 , Luke 24:22 , etc. See also Luke 7:37 , etc.; Luke 8:23 ; Luke 10:38 , 45; etc.). We notice the same tendency in the Acts, here, and in Acts 2:17 , Acts 2:18 ; Acts 5:14 ; Acts 9:36 ; Acts 12:13 ; Acts 16:14 , Acts 16:16 ; Acts 17:4 , Acts 17:34 ; Acts 18:1-28 . 26; Acts 21:9 ; Acts 24:24 ; Acts 25:23 ; etc. Mary the mother of Jesus appears here not as an object of worship, but as humbly joining in the prayers of the Church. And with his brethren . The Lord's brethren are spoken of by name in Matthew 13:55 as "James, and Joses ['Joseph,' R.V.], and Simon, and Judas." So also Mark 6:3 (see too Acts 4:31-35 ). "James the Lord's brother" is mentioned by St. Paul ( Galatians 1:19 ); "the brethren of the Lord "are mentioned 1 Corinthians 9:5 ; and again in John 7:3 , John 7:5 , John 7:10 , "the brethren of Jesus" are spoken of. This is not the place to enter upon the difficult question of their parentage. But it may suffice to say that if James and Judas are the two apostles of that name (which Alford, however, thinks they certainly were not, referring to John 7:5 , compared with John 6:67 ), then the brethren here spoken of as distinct from the apostles would be Joses and Simon.