Acts 10:10-16 sits inside this longer paragraph.
7When the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of those who waited on him continually. 8Having explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa. 9Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon. 10He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth, 12in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky. 13A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!”
14But Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
15A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.” 16This was done three times, and immediately the vessel was received up into heaven. 17Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood before the gate, 18and called and asked whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there. 19While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men seek you. 20But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv10–16 10. Excess of mind. Because our minds are wholly,…
10. Excess of mind. Because our minds are wholly, as it were, set upon the earth, to the end Peter might the better comprehend the oracle, it was meet that his mind should be, as it were, moved from his place and carried up; and by this means was he prepared to receive the oracle, when as he is carried up above the world after an unwonted manner.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 14, 15 For though Peter stand not amazed as one that…
For though Peter stand not amazed as one that is tongue tied, but talketh with God, and is instructed in his mysteries, yet his mind was far otherwise than it was wont to be, but shortly returned to the old bent.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv10–16 10 And he became very hungry, and would have…
10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
Ver. 10. He fell into a trance] His soul was sundered, as it were, for a season, from his body, while he talked with God. So our Saviour was transfigured as he was praying. John was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, when he received his revelation; Paul was rapped up into the third heaven. Giles of Bruxelles (a Dutch martyr), in his prayers was so ardent, kneeling by himself in some secret place, while he was a prisoner, that he seemed to forget himself. Being called many times to eat, he neither heard nor saw those that stood by him, till he was lifted up by the arms, and then gently he would speak unto them, as one awakened out of a sweet sleep.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv10–16 He became very hungry; he might be more than…
He became very hungry; he might be more than ordinarily hungry, to fit or suit the vision, which is hereafter mentioned.
He fell into a trance: the most excellent way of God’s manifesting himself unto man, is by a trance; (and they reckon seven ways, in which God makes himself known unto man); but what this trance was is diversly expressed: it is certain. that in it the soul was, as it were. absent from the body, drawn off from the perception of earthly and sensible things, and enabled unto the perception of heavenly mysteries: in such an ecstasy was St. Paul, 2Co 12:2, and St. John, Rev 1:10, who is therefore said to be in the Spirit.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv10–16 And he became very hungry,.... It being in the…
And he became very hungry,.... It being in the middle of the day, when it was usual to eat; and perhaps he had ate nothing that day, for those were reckoned the most religious persons, who eat nothing before the Minchah:
and would have eaten; though the Jews say (e), a man ought not to eat near the Minchah, not even the least, lest he should continue at it, and so neglect his prayers:
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but while they made ready, while Simon's family were getting dinner ready, preparing the food for it:
he fell into a trance; or an ecstasy, or an ecstasy fell upon him; it was what was supernatural, and came from above, and did not arise from any natural cause in him; he was as it were out of the body, and entirely in the spirit; all the bodily organs and senses were shut up, and all sensible objects removed from him; and he was wholly intent on what was proposed to him in the vision, which filled him with wonder and astonishment.
(e) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Sabbat. ib.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 14, 15, 16 And he became very hungry - At the usual…
And he became very hungry - At the usual meal time. The symbols in visions and trances, it is easy to observe, are generally suited to the state of the natural faculties.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv10–16 Verse 10. He became very hungry] It seems that…
Verse 10. He became very hungry] It seems that this happened about dinner-time; for it appears that they were making ready, παρασκευαζοντων, dressing the victuals for the family. The dinner among the ancients was a very slight meal; and they had no breakfast: their supper was their principal meal. And, in very ancient times, they ate only once in the day. Supper was the meal at which they saw their friends, the business of the day being then finished.
He fell into a trance] επεπεσεν επ αυτον εκστασις, An ecstasy fell upon him. A person may be said to be in an ecstasy when transported with joy or admiration, so that he is insensible to every object but that on which he is engaged. Peter's ecstasy is easily accounted for: he went up to the house-top to pray: at first he felt keen hunger; but, being earnestly engaged with God, all natural appetites became absorbed in the intense application of his soul to his Maker. While every passion and appetite was under this Divine influence, and the soul, without let or hinderance, freely conversing with God, then the visionary and symbolical representation mentioned here took place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11, 15 Act 10:11-14. And saw heaven opened — While he…
Act 10:11-14. And saw heaven opened — While he lay in a trance, the heaven appeared to be opened above him, to signify the opening of a mystery that had been hid. And a certain vessel — Or utensil; (for the word σκευος, here used, extends to all sorts of instruments, and every part of household furniture, of which see on Act 9:15;) descending unto him as it had been a great sheet — Οθονην μεγαλην, a great linen cloth, or wrapper, an emblem of the gospel, extending to all nations of men; knit — Δεδεμενον, tied; at the four corners — Not all in one knot, but each fastened, as it were, up to heaven; and let down to earth — To receive from all parts of the world those that were willing to be admitted into it. Wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts — The net of the gospel was to enclose persons of all countries, nations, and languages, without any distinction of Greek or Jew, or any disadvantage attaching to barbarian or Scythian, Col 3:11. And there came a voice, Rise, Peter, kill and eat — Of what thou seest, without any exception, or putting any difference between clean and unclean; the Lord thus showing him that he might now converse with Jews and Gentiles indifferently, and preach unto the latter, as well as unto the former, the word of life; and, at the same time intimating, that the Jewish Christians were, by the gospel, absolved from the ceremonial law, in which the distinction between clean and unclean meats made so considerable a part. But Peter said, Not so, Lord — I would rather continue fasting a great while longer, than satisfy my hunger on such terms; for I see only unclean animals here; and I have never —
From my childhood to this hour, defiled my conscience by eating any thing common or unclean — Hitherto I have kept my integrity in this matter, and am determined still to keep it. Peter’s words speak his resolution still to adhere to God’s law, though he has a counter command by a voice from heaven; for he knew not, at first, but the words, kill and eat, might be a command of trial, whether he would abide by the sure word, the written law; and if so, his answer, Not so, Lord, had been very proper. Temptations to eat forbidden fruit must not be parleyed with, but peremptorily rejected. Reader, if God by his grace has preserved us from gross sin unto this day, we should use that as an argument with ourselves to continue to abstain from all appearance of evil.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 And he became very hungry - Prom the connection,…
And he became very hungry - Prom the connection, where it is said that they were making ready, that is, preparing a meal, it would seem that this was the customary hour of dining. The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, however, had but two meals, and the first was usually taken about ten or eleven o’clock. This meal usually consisted of fruit, milk, cheese, etc. Their principal meal was about six or seven in the afternoon, at which time they observed their feasts. See Jahn’s Bible. Archaeol. section 145.
He fell into a trance - Greek: an ecstasy, ἔκστασις ekstasis, fell upon him. In Act 11:5, Peter says that in a trance he saw a vision. The word “trance, or ecstasy,” denotes “a state of mind when the attention is absorbed in a particular train of thought, so that the external senses are partially or entirely suspended.” It is a high species of abstraction from external objects, when the mind becomes forgetful of surrounding things, and is fixed solely on its own thoughts, so that appeals to the external senses do not readily rouse it. The soul seems to have passed out of the body, and to be conversant only with spiritual essences. Thus, Balaam is said to have seen the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance Num 24:4, Num 24:16; thus Paul, in praying in the temple, fell into a trance Act 22:17; and perhaps a similar state is described in 2Co 12:2. This effect seems to be caused by so intense and absorbing a train of thought as to overcome the senses of the body, or wholly to withdraw the mind from their influence, and to fix it on the unseen object that engrosses it. It is often a high state of reverie, or absence of mind, which Dr. Rush describes as “induced by the stimulus of ideas of absent subjects, being so powerful as to destroy the perception of present objects” (Diseases of the Mind, p. 310, ed. Philadelphia, 1812). In the case of Peter, however, there was a supernatural influence that drew his attention away from present objects.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv10, 15 There came upon him an ecstasy[1] of mind. This…
There came upon him an ecstasy[1] of mind. This is the true sense by the Greek. I have never yet eaten any unclean thing. This seems to have happened, an. 35 [A.D. 35]. Till then the apostles followed the ceremonies of the law of Moses. It may seem strange that even St. Peter should not know that the ceremonial precepts of the law were to be abolished. It may be answered, that St. Peter and they, were only ignorant of the time, when they were to be laid aside; and so St. John Chrysostom says, that the conversion of Cornelius, with all its circumstances, was to convince the Jews, rather than the apostles, that those ceremonies were no longer obligatory. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Mentis excessus, Greek: epepesen ep auton ekstasis.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv10, 12, 14, 15, 16 a trance--differing from the "vision" of Cornelius, in so…
a trance--differing from the "vision" of Cornelius, in so far as the things seen had not the same objective reality, though both were supernatural.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv10–16 10. Trance—Ecstasy. The Greek εκστασις, derived from εκ, out…
10. Trance—Ecstasy. The Greek εκστασις, derived from εκ, out of, and στασις, standing or position. Mentally it designated the mind or soul out of its ordinary status in the body. This the word expressed in very different degrees. First, any ordinary excitement by which the mind was out of its ordinary state, as by surprise, Mar_5:42; Luk_5:26; or terror, Mar_16:8. Second, a withdrawal of the soul from the use of its outer senses to a condition in which its own conceptions appeared realities. Those conceptions might be framed by the soul itself, as in reveries and dreams; or they might be shaped to the soul by some other mind, as in revelations and in imparted visions. So this trance of Peter was dictated to his conception from a divine source; but not so the appearance of the angel to Cornelius, nor that of Jesus to Saul; for these are not called trance, the appearing object being not a mere conception, but an independent reality. Third, some have held that the soul may entirely leave the body, inanimate like a corpse, and depart to distant regions and deal with external objects. We know no such instance in Scripture except at death, as of Dives, or that of Paul, (2Co_12:2-4,) who certainly thought it in his own case a possibility. Pliny, the philosopher, however, narrates the case of one whose soul left his body, and in its absence his body was burned by his enemies! Augustine (“De Civitate Dei”) relates the case of a presbyter named Restitutus, whose body could be so abandoned by his soul.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv10–16 10. he fell into a trance] So that the…
10. he fell into a trance] So that the vision was seen by him only mentally, when he was rapt out of the body, and beheld all things as a man in a dream.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv10–16 (10) He fell into a trance.—St. Luke characteristically uses,…
(10) He fell into a trance.—St. Luke characteristically uses, as in Act_11:5; Act_22:17, the technical term ekstasis (whence our English ecstasy) for the state which thus supervened. It is obvious that it might in part be the natural consequence of the protracted fast, and the intense prayer, possibly also of exposure under such conditions to the noontide sun. The state was one in which the normal action of the senses was suspended, like that of Balaam in Num_24:4, or that which St. Paul describes in 2Co_12:3, “whether in the body or out of the body” he cannot tell, and, as such, it was, in this instance, made the channel for a revelation of the Divine Will conveyed in symbols which were adapted to the conditions out of which it rose.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 Hungry for very hungry, A.V.; desired to eat for…
Hungry for very hungry, A.V.; desired to eat for would have eaten, A.V. Hungry. The word so rendered (prospeinov) occurs nowhere else either in the New Testament or in any other writer. Possibly he, like Cornelius (ver. 30), had been fasting till the time of prayer. A trance (ekstasiv) expresses a state of transition from the ordinary state into a new or different state. Applied to a man, it denotes that state in which the external senses and the volition are suspended, and all his impressions are derived from within. (see Act_11:5 Act_22:17) It is also used to express great astonishment (Luk_5:26; Act_3:10; Mar_5:42) In the LXX of Gen_2:21 it is spoken of Adam"s deep sleep, and in Gen_27:33 of Isaac"s exceeding trembling, and elsewhere of strong emotions.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 16 10. Fell into a trance. A rapt condition, when…
10. Fell into a trance. A rapt condition, when he was transported out of himself into a mental condition that fitted him to see divine things. See 2 Cor. 12:2; Rev. 1:10.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. “And he saw heaven open and a certain…
PETER’S VISION
11. “And he saw heaven open and a certain vessel, like a great sheet, sitting down on the ground with four rope’s ends,
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv10–16 See notes on verse 9
See notes on verse 9
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v13 a voice spoke to him
a voice spoke to him
The person speaking is not specified. The "voice" was probably God, although it could possibly have been an angel from God. (See: Synecdoche)
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Not so
"I will not do that"
I have never eaten anything that was defiled and unclean
It is implied that some the animals in the container were unclean as defined by the law of Moses and were not to be eaten by believers who lived before Christ died. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
What God has cleansed
If God is the speaker, he is referring to himself in the third person. AT: "What I, God, have cleansed" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
This happened three times
It is not likely that everything Peter saw happened three times. This probably means that the phrase, "What God has cleansed, do not call it defiled," was repeated three times. However, it may be best to simply say "This happened three times" instead of trying to explain in detail.
translationWords
Peter
defile
clean
clean
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v14 10:14 See Lev 11 for a description of animals…
10:14 See Lev 11 for a description of animals that Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.