Acts 9:36 - Exposition

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 deaconess of the Church. The thirty-eighth verse shows that there was already a Church at Joppa About half the population of seven thousand are said to be still Christians. Compare the qualifications of a widow as set forth by St Paul ( 1 Timothy 5:10 ). The phrase, good works , is quite Pauline ( Ephesians 2:10 ; Colossians 1:10 ; Titus 2:7 ; 1 Timothy 2:10 ). Almsdeeds . The word alms (from ἐλεημοσυνή ) is one of those Greek words which has been domiciled in the English language through the Church. So bishop, priest, deacon, κύριε ἐλέητον , trisagion, stole, Paschal, Litany, Liturgy, and many others.