One of them named Agabus stood up, and indicated by the Spirit that there should be a great famine all over the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius.
Parallel Translations
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One of them named Agabus stood up, and indicated by the Spirit that there should be a great famine all over the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius.
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And ther stode vp one of them named Agabus and signified by the sprete that ther shuld be great derth throughoute all the worlde which came to passe in the Emproure Claudius dayes.
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And there stoode vp one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit, that there should be great famine throughout all the world, which also came to passe vnder Claudius Cesar.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Acts 11:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 21:10 As we stayed there some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
- Acts 18:2 He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,
- 1 Kings 17:1-16 Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” Then Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” So he went and did according to Yahweh’s word; for he went and lived by the brook Cherith that is before the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. Yahweh’s word came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her, and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” As she was going to get it, he called to her, and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” She said, “As Yahweh your God lives, I don’t have a cake, but a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jar. Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and bake it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you have said; but make me a little cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for you and for your son. For Yahweh, the God of Israel says, ‘The jar of meal will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail, until the day that Yahweh sends rain on the earth.’ ” She went and did according to the saying of Elijah; and she, and he, and her house, ate many days. The jar of meal didn’t run out, and the jar of oil didn’t fail, according to Yahweh’s word, which he spoke by Elijah.
- Luke 2:1 Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.
- Luke 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,
- Genesis 41:30-31 Seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous.
- Genesis 41:38 Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”
- 2 Kings 8:1-2 Now Elisha had spoken to the woman whose son he had restored to life, saying, “Arise, and go, you and your household, and stay for a while wherever you can; for Yahweh has called for a famine. It will also come on the land for seven years.” The woman arose, and did according to the man of God’s word. She went with her household, and lived in the land of the Philistines for seven years.
- Matthew 24:14 This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 28. He signified by the Spirit. Luke doth plainly…
28. He signified by the Spirit. Luke doth plainly express that the Spirit of God was the author of this prophecy, that we may know that it was not a conjecture taken by the stars, or some other natural causes; again, that Agabus did not play the philosopher after the manner of men, but he uttered that which God had appointed by the secret inspiration of the Spirit. Barrenness may indeed be sometimes foretold by the disposition of the stars, but there is no certainty in such foretellings, both because of the opposite concourses, and also, especially, because God doth govern earthly things at his pleasure, far otherwise than can be gathered by the stars, that he may lead men away from the perverse beholding of stars. And although these foretellings have their degree, yet the prophecies of the Spirit do far exceed them. But it seemeth that the foretelling of the famine was unlucky, [of evil omen,] and not to be wished for; for to what end was it for men to be made miserable before their time, by having the unhappy event foretold? I answer, that there be many causes for which it is expedient that men should be warned before in time when the judgments of God hang over their heads, and punishments [are] due to their sins. I omit others which are usual in the prophets, because [viz. that] they have a space granted wherein to repent, that they may prevent God’s judgment, who have provoked his wrath against themselves; because [that] the faithful are instructed in time to arm themselves with patience; because [that] the obstinate wickedness of wicked men is convict; because [that] both good and evil learn that miseries do not come by chance, but that they are punishments wherewith God doth punish the sins of the world; because [that] those are awakened out of their sleep and sluggishness by this means, who took great delight in their vices. The profit of this present prophecy appeareth by the text, because the men of Antioch were thereby pricked forward to relieve their brethren which were in misery.
Which happened under Claudius. Suetonius also maketh mention of this famine, who saith that there were crusts or shards thrown at Claudius’ head in the midst of the market and that he was so sore afraid of stoning, that he had a singular care afterward, during his whole life, to make provision for victual. And Josephus, in his Fifteenth Book of Antiquity, saith, that Judea was sore oppressed with scarcity, by reason of continual drought.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 28 And there stood up one of them named…
28 And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Ver. 28. And there stood up one] So Bishop Hooper prophesied, long before, of his own death. For, taking Mr Bullinger by the hand, at his return from Zurich, There, said he, where I take most pains you shall hear of me to be burnt to ashes. And being made bishop, he took for his arms a lamb in a fiery bush, and the sunbeams descending down upon the lamb; rightly denoting, as it seemeth, the order of his suffering, which afterward followed. So father Latimer ever affirmed of himself, that the preaching of the gospel would cost him his life; to the which he no less cheerfully prepared himself, than certainly was persuaded that Winchester was kept in the Tower (in King Edward VI’s days) for the same purpose; and it proved so. In November, 1572, appeared a new star in Cassiopeia, and continued sixteen months. Theodore Beza wittily applied it to that star at Christ’s birth, and to the infanticide then, and warned Charles IX, author of the French massacre, to beware, in this verse:
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" Tu vero Herodes sanguinolente time."
The fifth month after the vanishing of this star the said Charles, after long and grievous pains, died of exceeding bleeding. Spotswood, Archbishop of St Andrews, a deep and subtle dissembler, who had discouraged, and by degrees rooted out, most of the faithful ministers of Scotland, thought it seasonable (A. D. 1639) to repair into England, where he died a martyr, to the design of bringing in Popery and slavery. And so was the prediction of Mr Walsh, a famous Scotch minister, fulfilled upon him, who in a letter to the bishop, written 1604, told him he should die an outcast.
Great dearth throughout the world] Suetonius and Josephus make mention of this famine. It went hard when this voice was uttered in the marketplace at Rome, Pone pretium humanae carni. Let us set a price on human flesh. At Antioch in Syria, many of the Christians engaged in the holy war (as they called it) were glad, through famine, to eat the dead bodies of their recently slain enemies. This was that Antioch here mentioned in the text.
In the days of Claudius Caesar] Who was an arrant slowbelly, counted for a fool by his own mother Antonia, judged unworthy of the empire by his own sister Livilla, poisoned at length by his own wife Agrippina, and her son Nero, qui dixit boletos Θεων βρωμα ειναι, quod Claudius bolero in numerum Deorum relatus esset. The times were then so bad when he ruled the empire, ut nihil amplius virtus esse putaretur quam το γενναιως επιθανειν, saith the historian. (Dio.) What marvel, then, though God scourged the world with extreme famine; wherein the Church also was inwrapped, but graciously provided for, as ever she is in a common calamity.
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 By the Spirit; by a resolution from the Spirit,…
By the Spirit; by a resolution from the Spirit, as one of his gifts, and not by judicial astrology, or any other means real or pretended; for it is a prerogative of God only to foretell things to come, as Isa 41:22,23.
Which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar: this famine Suetonius and other heathen writers make mention of, though some place it in one year, and some in another year, of Claudius’s reign. It may be there were divers famines, or one might continue divers years; but thus God, who provided for the patriarchs by means of Joseph’s foreseeing of the scarcity in Egypt and elsewhere, provides for his church now also by a like prediction. God’s omniscience is exerted for his church’s preservation.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Agabus rising up - In the congregation. All the…
Agabus rising up - In the congregation. All the world - The word frequently signifies all the Roman empire. And so it is doubtless to be taken here.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 28. Agabus] This prophet, of whom we know…
Verse 28. Agabus] This prophet, of whom we know nothing, is once more mentioned, Ac 21:10. He was probably a Jew, but whether converted now to Christianity we cannot tell.
Great dearth throughout all the world] The words εφ ολην την οικουμενην probably here mean the land of Judea; though sometimes by this phrase the whole Roman empire is intended. In the former sense the disciples appear to have understood it, as the next verse informs us; for they determined to send relief to their brethren in Judea, which they could not have done had the famine been general. It does not appear that they expected it to extend even to Antioch in Syria, where they then were, else they would have thought of making provision for themselves.
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It is well known from history that there were several famines in the reign of Claudius. Dion Cassius, lib. lx., mentions a severe famine in the first and second year of the reign of Claudius, which was sorely felt ln Rome itself. This famine, it is supposed, induced Claudius to build a port at Ostia, for the more regular supply of Rome with provisions.
A second famine happened about the fourth year of this reign, which continued for several years, and greatly afflicted the land of Judea. Several authors notice this, but particularly Josephus, Ant. lib. xx. cap. 5, sect. 2, where, having mentioned Tiberius Alexander as succeeding to the procuratorship in the place of Cuspius Fadus, he says that, "during the government of these procurators, a great famine afflicted Judea." Επι τουτοις δη και τον μεγαν λιμον κατα την Ιουδαιαν συνεβη γενεσθαι.
A third famine is mentioned by Eusebius, in An. Abrahami, which commences with the calends of October, A.D. 48, which was so powerful "in Greece that a modius (about half a bushel of grain) was sold for six drachms," about three shillings and sixpence English. Vid. Euseb. in Chron. edit. Scalig. The same author mentions another famine in Rome, in the tenth year of Claudius, of which Orosius gives the details, lib. vii.
A fourth famine, which took place in the eleventh year of Claudius, is mentioned by Tacitus, Annal. lib. xii. sect. 43, in which there was so great a dearth of provisions, and famine in consequence, that it was esteemed a Divine judgment. Frugrum quoque egestas, et orta ex ea fames, in prodigium accipiebatur. At this time, the same author tells us, that in all the stores of Rome there were no more than fifteen days' provision; and, had not the winter been uncommonly mild, the utmost distress and misery must have prevailed.
It may now be inquired, to which of these famines in the reign of Claudius does the prophecy of Agabus refer? Most learned men are of opinion that the famine of which Agabus prophesied was that mentioned above, which took place in the fourth year of this emperor. A.D. 47. This famine is particularly mentioned by Josephus, Ant. lib xx. cap. 2, sect. 5, who describes it as "a very great famine, in which many died for want of food." - "That Helena, queen of Adiabene, who had embraced the Jewish religion, sent some of her servants to Alexandria, to buy a great quantity of corn; and others of them to Cyprus, to buy a cargo of dried figs, which she distributed to those who were in want." And in cap. 5, sect. 2, he says that this happened" when Tiberius Alexander succeeded Cuspids Fadus; and that under these procurators the famine happened in which Queen Helena, at a vast expense, procured relief to the Jews." Dr. Hudson's note on this passage in Josephus deserves to be copied: "This," says he, "is that famine foretold by Agabus, Ac 11:28, which happened when Claudius was consul the fourth time, (A.D. 47,) and not that which happened when Claudius was consul the second time, and Caecina was his colleague, (A.D. 42,) as Scaliger says, upon Eusebius, p. 174. Now when Josephus had said, a little after, cap. 5, sect. 2, that Tiberius Alexander succeeded Cuspius Fadus as procurator, he immediately subjoins, under these procurators there happened a great famine in Judea." From this it is evident that this famine must have continued several years, as it existed under both these procurators. Fadus, says Mr. Whiston, was not sent into Judea till after the death of Agrippa, i.e. towards the end of the fourth year of Claudius, in the end of A.D. 44, or beginning of 45. So that this famine, foretold by Agabus, happened on the fifth, sixth, and seventh years of Claudius, A.D. 45, 46, and 47. See Whiston's Josephus; and see Krebs' Observat. in Nov. Test. on this place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Named Agabus - This man is mentioned but in…
Named Agabus - This man is mentioned but in one other place in the New Testament. In Act 21:10-11, he is referred to as having foretold that Paul would be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. It is not expressly said that he was a Christian, but the connection seems to imply that he was.
And signified - See Joh 12:33. The word usually denotes “to indicate by signs, or with a degree of obscurity and uncertainty, not to declare in explicit language.” But here it seems to denote simply “to foretell, to predict.”
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By the Spirit - Under the influence of the Spirit. He was inspired.
Great dearth - A great famine.
Throughout all the world - The word used here οἰκουμένην oikoumenēn usually denotes “the inhabitable world, the parts of the earth which are cultivated and occupied.” It is sometimes used, however, to denote “an entire land or country,” in contradistinction from the parts of it: thus, to denote “the whole of the land of Palestine” in distinction from its parts; or to denote that an event would have reference to all the land, and not be confined to one or more parts, as Galilee, Samaria, etc. See the notes on Luk 2:1. The meaning of this prophecy evidently is, that the famine would be extensive; that it would not be confined to a single province or region, but that it would extend so far as that it might be called “general.” In fact, though the famine was particularly severe in Judea, it extended much further. This prediction was uttered not long after the conversion of Saul, and probably, therefore, about the year, 38 a.d. or 40 a.d. Dr. Lardner has attempted to show that the prophecy had reference only to the land of Judea, though in fact there were famines in other places (Lardher’s Works, vol. 1, pp. 253, 254, edit. London, 1829).
Which came to pass ... - This is one of the few instances in which the sacred writers in the New Testament affirm the fulfillment of a prophecy. The history having been written after the event, it was natural to give a passing notice of the fulfillment.
In the days of Claudius Caesar - The Roman emperor. He began his reign in 41 a.d., and he reigned for 13 years. He was at last poisoned by one of his wives, Agrippina, who wished to raise her son Nero to the throne. During his reign no less than four different famines are mentioned by ancient writers, one of which was particularly severe in Judea, and was the one, doubtless, to which the sacred writer here refers:
(1) The first happened at Rome, and occurred in the first or second year of the reign of Claudius. It arose from the difficulties of importing provisions from abroad. It is mentioned by Dio, whose words are these: “There being a great famine, he (Claudius) not only took care for a present supply, but provided also for the time to come.” He then proceeds to state the great expense which Claudius was at in making a good port at the mouth of the Tiber, and a convenient passage from thence up to the city (did, lib. Ix. p. 671, 672; see also Suetonius, Claudius, cap. 20).
(2) A second famine is mentioned as having been particularly severe in Greece. Of this famine Eusebius speaks in his Chronicon, p. 204: “There was a great famine in Greece, in which a modius of wheat (about half a bushel) was sold for six drachmas.” This famine is said by Eusebius to have occurred in the ninth year of the reign of Claudius.
(3) In the latter part of his reign, 51 a.d., there was another famine at Rome, mentioned by Suetonius (Claudius, cap. 18), and by Tacitus (Ann., Joh 12:43). Of this, Tacitus says that it was so severe that it was deemed to be a divine judgment.
(4) A fourth famine is mentioned as having occurred particularly in Judea. This is described by Josephus (Antiq., book 20, chapter 2, section 5). “A famine,” says he, “did oppress them at the time (in the time of Claudius); and many people died for the lack of what was necessary to procure food withal. Queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of grain, and others of them to Cyprus to bring a cargo of dried figs.” This famine is described as having continued under the two procurators of Judea, Tiberius Alexander and Cassius Fadus. Fadus was sent into Judea, on the death of Agrippa, about the fourth year of the reign of Claudius, and the famine, therefore, continued probably during the fifth, sixth, and seventh years of the reign of Claudius. See the note in Whiston’s Josephus, Antiq., book 20, chapter 2, section 5; also Lardner as quoted above. Of this famine, or of the want consequent on the famine, repeated mention is made in the New Testament.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain that there should be great dearth throughout all the…
that there should be great dearth throughout all the world--the whole Roman empire.
which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar--Four famines occurred during his reign. This one in Judea and the adjacent countries took place, A.D. 41 [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 20.2,5]. An important date for tracing out the chronology of the Acts. (But this subject is too difficult and extensive to admit of being handled here).
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 28. Stood up—Doubtless in the public congregation.
28. Stood up—Doubtless in the public congregation.
Agabus—The name is probably derived from the Hebrew verb עגב, Agab, he loved; cognate with the Agape, love. Agabus again appears a true prophet, but a prophet of evil, in Act_21:11.
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All the world—Literally, the whole inhabited land. The extent of this land depends upon the subject of the discourse. In this case Agabus was doubtless speaking of a particular land, namely, Palestine. This appears plainly from the fact that the Antiochians forthwith determined to send relief to Judea, as if there, and not in Syria, was to be the dearth.
The Codex Beza has here a remarkable addition: “And when we were all gathered about him he said,” etc. This would be, if authentic, an addition to “the we passages,” and prove Luke to have been at Antioch at this time. (See note on Act_16:10.) It only indicates, as it is, an ancient belief that he then was there.
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 28. one of them named Agabus] He is mentioned…
28. one of them named Agabus] He is mentioned again Act_21:10, where by a significant action, as well as by his words, he foretells the imprisonment of St Paul at Jerusalem.
and signified by the Spirit] So too Act_21:11, the words of Agabus are, “Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle.”
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great dearth] This famine is mentioned by Josephus (Antiq. xx. 2. 5), who tells how Helena, queen of Adiabene, being at Jerusalem, succoured the people by procuring for them corn from Alexandria and a cargo of figs from Cyprus. The date of this severe famine was a.d. 45.
throughout all the world] Though one region might be specially afflicted by the failure of its crops, all the rest of the Roman empire would be sure to suffer in some degree at the same time, and especially when famines were, as at this time, of frequent recurrence.
in the days of Claudius Cesar] The oldest MSS. omit “Cæsar.” The reign of Claudius (a.d. 41–54) was remarkable for the famines with which various parts of the empire were afflicted. The first, second, fourth, ninth and eleventh years of this Emperor’s reign are recorded as years of famine in some district or other. See Suetonius, Claudius, 28; Tacitus, Ann. xii. 43; Josephus, Antiq. xx. 2. 5, Dio Cassius ix. p. 949, Euseb. H. E. ii. 8.
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 (28) There stood up one of them named Agabus.—The…
(28) There stood up one of them named Agabus.—The same prophet appears again in Act_21:10 as coming down from Jerusalem to Cæsarea. Nothing more is known of him. The prophecy of the “dearth” or “famine” was in part an echo of Mat_24:7.
Throughout all the world.—Literally, the inhabited earth, used, as in Luk_2:1; Luk_4:5, and elsewhere in the New Testament, for the Roman empire.
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Which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cæsar.—The reign of Caligula lasted from A.D. 37-41, that of Claudius from A.D. 41-54. The whole reign of the latter emperor was memorable for frequent famines (Suetonius, Claud. 28; Tacitus, Ann. xii. 43). Josephus (Ant. xx. 5) speaks of one as specially affecting Judæa and Syria, under the procuratorship of Cuspius Fadus, A.D. 45. The population of Jerusalem were reduced to great distress, and were chiefly relieved by the bounty of Helena, Queen of Adiabene, who sent in large supplies of corn, figs, and other articles of food. She was herself a proselyte to Judaism, and was the mother of Izates, whose probable conversion to the faith of Christ by Ananias of Damascus is mentioned in the Note on Act_9:10. The title of “Cæsar” is omitted in the better MSS.
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J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes one verse 27
See notes one verse 27
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain "oikoumene" = "inhabited earth." (See Scofield "Luk 2:1").
world
"oikoumene" = "inhabited earth." (See Scofield "Luk 2:1").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:28 Claudius, nephew of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1), was…
11:28 Claudius, nephew of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1), was the Roman emperor in AD 41–54. His last wife was his niece Agrippina, whose son Nero he adopted.
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