Eu´tychus, a young man of Troas, who sat in the open window of the third floor while St. Paul was preaching late in the night, and who, being overcome by sleep, fell out into the court below. He was 'taken up dead;' but the Apostle, going down, extended himself upon the body and embraced it, like the prophets of old (; ); and when he felt the signs of returning life, restored him to his friends, with the assurance that 'his life was in him.' Before Paul departed in the morning the youth was brought to him alive and well. It is disputed whether Eutychus was really dead, or only in a swoon; and hence, whether a miracle was performed or not. It is admitted that the circumstances, and the words of Paul himself, sanction the notion that the young man was not actually dead, but, on the other hand, it is contended that the words of the narrator, 'taken up dead,' are too plain to justify us in receiving them in the modified sense of 'taken up for dead,' which that interpretation requires ().
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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