After these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
Parallel Translations
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After these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
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And after warde he gave vnto them iudges aboute the space of.iiii.C. and.l. yeres vnto the tyme of Samuel the Prophet.
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Then afterward he gaue vnto them Iudges about foure hundreth and fiftie yeeres, vnto the time of Samuel the Prophet.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Acts 13:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 2:16 Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
- 1 Samuel 3:20 All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of Yahweh.
- Judges 3:10 Yahweh’s Spirit came on him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Yahweh delivered Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. His hand prevailed against Cushan Rishathaim.
- Ruth 1:1 In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons.
- 1 Samuel 12:11 Yahweh sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side; and you lived in safety.
- 2 Samuel 7:11 and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your enemies. Moreover Yahweh tells you that Yahweh will make you a house.
- 2 Kings 23:22 Surely there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
- 1 Chronicles 17:6 In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ ” ’
- Acts 3:24 Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 20. He gave them judges. Under this name the…
20. He gave them judges. Under this name the Scripture comprehendeth rulers and governors; and here is another testimony of the infinite goodness of God toward the Jews, in that he pardoned so many backslidings in them. For it is likely that Paul handled those things more at large, which Luke gathereth briefly. And we know what was the estate of the people during all that time, seeing that through untamed wantonness they did ever now and then shake off the yoke. They were often punished with most grievous plagues, yet so soon as they were once humbled, God delivered them from the tyranny of their enemies. So that he saved the body thereof alive, amidst many deaths, four whole ages and one-half. And hereby it appeareth how unworthy they were of the favor of God, which they did despise and reject so often, unless the constancy of the election had gotten the victory. For how is it that God is never wearied, but that he keepeth promise with those who are truce-breakers an hundred times, save only because turning his eyes toward his Christ, he hath not suffered his covenant, grounded in him, to decay or perish?
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 There were from the birth of Isaac unto the…
There were from the birth of Isaac unto the destruction of the Canaanites under the governance of Joshua four hundred and seven and forty years, and therefore he addeth in this place, this word, About, for there want three years, but the Apostle useth the whole greater number.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 20 And after that he gave unto them judges…
20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.
Ver. 20. About the space, &c.] It was not all out so long; therefore he saith, "about the space," ωσει; thereby teaching us in doubtful things to deliver ourselves doubtfully, and not to be overconfident. See Joh 4:6.
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 These judges were persons deputed by God to govern…
These judges were persons deputed by God to govern and deliver that people; their commission was attested usually by some extraordinary thing done by them, and their power (as being mediately from God) was absolute. The computation of years here mentioned hath been very much controverted. That which hath the greatest probability with it, is, either, first, to have recourse to Act 13:17, and begin this era there, with God’s choosing of their fathers; and ending it at the time of the decision of the land by lot, as Act 13:19; for from the birth of Isaac, to this distribution of the land, are reckoned four hundred and forty-seven years; which may well be said here,
about four hundred and fifty years: but then the sense is,
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after that such things mentioned in Act 13:17-19 were done; which were in the compass of four hundred and fifty years, God then gave them judges. Or, as others do refer these words to what follows, and begin the era or computation from the going of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and ending it at the expulsion of the Jebusites out of Jerusalem, which may make up this account. But then this passage of St. Paul is not intended to show how long the judges ruled, but when it was, or about what time that they ruled; as also to show what a long time it took up to gain that people a quiet possession of that promised inheritance, their sins still keeping good things from them.
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 And afterward they desired a king,.... Sa1 8:5 which…
And afterward they desired a king,.... Sa1 8:5 which the Jews (w) say, was in the tenth year of Samuel; that is, of his government over Israel, or of his judging them:
and God gave unto them Saul; whose name signifies one that is asked; he was
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the son of Cis; so the Septuagint read and pronounce the word "Kish", the name of Saul's father, Sa1 9:1 a man of the tribe of Benjamin; not of Judah, from whence the sceptre was not to depart till Shiloh came; the business of their asking a king being resented by God, he gives them their first king of another tribe:
by the space of forty years. The Jews are very much divided about the years of Saul's reign, some allow him but two years (x), and others three, one year that he reigned with Samuel, and two by himself (y), which they conclude from Sa1 13:1 but others (z) think this too short a time for the things done by him, the wars he fought with many nations, and his persecution of David from place to place; wherefore others (a) allow him, some seventeen, and others twenty years; but our apostle ascribes forty years to him, which must be understood both of him and Samuel; with which Josephus (b) agrees, who says that he reigned eighteen years, during Samuel's life, and twenty two years after his death, which make the space of forty years fixed by the apostle; though the clause, "by the space of forty years", may be read in construction with the latter end of the preceding verse, until Samuel the prophet; who, the Jews (c) own, judged so many years: wherefore the apostle is not to be charged with an error, as he is by a Jewish (d) objector; who observes, that from the beginning of Saul's kingdom, or from the time that he was anointed by Samuel the prophet, until the kingdom was renewed to him by all Israel, was one year, and then Saul chose three thousand men out of Israel after that he reigned two years by the consent of all Israel, until he sinned in the business of the Amalekites, and then he was accounted as a dead man, and the years of his reign were not numbered; at which time David was anointed, who must be about twenty years of age, Sa1 16:18 and yet when he came to the kingdom after the death of Saul, he was but thirty years of age, Sa2 5:4 from whence he thinks it follows that Saul reigned but ten years: in all which he is guilty of several mistakes, and advances things he cannot prove; it was not after Saul had reigned one year, but after he had reigned two years, that he chose three thousand men out of Israel, as is expressly said, Sa1 13:1 and that he had reigned but two years when he sinned in the case of the Amalekites, wants proof; nor is it evident that David was twenty years of age when he was anointed, for it was after his unction that he is said to be a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, Sa1 16:18 nor indeed can it be said in what year of Saul's reign he was anointed; so that nothing can be concluded from the age David was at when he began to reign, concerning the years of the reign of Saul his predecessor; and even according to this man's own reckoning, he must reign thirteen years, one before the consent of all Israel, two after, and before his sin about the Amalekites, and ten from the time of David's unction: but that Saul must reign more years than these, and even as many as the apostle assigns to him, may be concluded, not only from his wars with many nations, and his long persecution of David before observed; but from the number of high priests which were in his time, and who were no less than three, Ahiah, Abimelech, and Abiathar, Sa1 14:3 and from his being a young man when he began to reign, Sa1 9:2 and yet at the end of his reign, or at his death, he had a son, Ishbosheth, that was forty years of age, Sa2 2:10.
(w) T. Bab. Nazir, fol. 5. 1. & Temura, fol. 14. 2. (x) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 13. p. 37. Juchasin, fol. 11. 1. Kabbala, R. Abraham, &c. (y) T. Bab. Temura, fol. 15. 1. (z) R. Levi ben Gersom & R. Isaiah in I Sam. xiii. 1. (a) Shalsheleth Hakabala, fol. 8. 1. (b) Antiqu. l. 6. c. 14. sect. 9. (c) Midrash Tillim apud Broughton's Works, p. 599. Vid. Viccarsium, in Psal xcix. 6. (d) R. Isaac Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 67. p. 453, 454.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. And after that he gave unto them…
Verse 20. And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years] This is a most difficult passage, and has been termed by Scaliger, Crux Chronologorum. The apostle seems here to contradict the account in 1Kg 6:1: And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign, he began to build the house of the Lord.
Sir Norton Knatchbull, in his annotations upon difficult texts, has considered the various solutions proposed by learned men of the difficulty before us; and concludes that the words of the apostle should not be understood as meaning how long God gave them judges, but when he gave them; and therefore proposes that the first words of this verse, Και μετα ταυτα, ὡς ετεσι τετρακοσιοις και πεντηκοντα, should be referred to the words going before, Ac 13:17, that is, to the time WHEN the God of the children of Israel chose their fathers.
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"Now this time wherein God may properly be said to have chosen their fathers, about 450 years before he gave them judges, is to be computed from the birth of Isaac, in whom God may properly be said to have chosen their fathers; for God, who had chosen Abraham out of all the people of the earth, chose Isaac at this time out of the children of Abraham, in whose family the covenant was to rest. To make this computation evident, let us observe that from the birth of Isaac to the birth of Jacob are 60 years; from thence to their going into Egypt, 130; from thence to the exodus, 210; from thence to their entrance into Canaan, 40; from that to the division of the land (about which time it is probable they began to settle their government by judges) 7 years; which sums make 447: viz. 60 + 130 + 210 + 40 + 7 = 447. And should this be reckoned from the year before the birth of Isaac, when God established his covenant between himself and Abraham, and all his seed after him, Ge 17:19, at which time God properly chose their fathers, then there will be 448 years, which brings it to within two years of the 450, which is sufficiently exact to bring it within the apostle's ως, about, or nearly.
"Some have made the period 452 years; which, though two years more than the apostle's round number, is still sufficiently reconcilable with his qualifying particle ως, about. And it may be added that the most correct writers often express a sum totally, but not exactly: so, with Demosthenes and Plautus, we find that called a talent where some drachms were either wanting or abounding."
The sacred writers often express themselves in the same way: e.g. He made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other; and a line of thirty cubits did compass it about. Now we know that the circumference of any circle is only in round numbers to its diameter as three to one; but, correctly, is considerably more, nearly as 22 to 7. But even the Spirit of God does not see it necessary to enter into such niceties, which would only puzzle, and not instruct the common reader.
Calmet has paraphrased these passages nearly to the same sense: the text may be thus connected; Ac 13:19. And having destroyed; seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot, about one hundred and fifty years after. And afterwards he gave them judges, to the time of Samuel the prophet. The paraphrase of Calmet is the following: "The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers in the person of Abraham; he promised him the land of Canaan; and four hundred and fifty years after this promise, and the birth of Isaac, who was the son and heir of the promise, he put them in possession of that land which he had promised so long before." As this view of the subject removes all the principal difficulties, I shall not trouble my reader with other modes of interpretation.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He gave unto them judges - Men who were…
He gave unto them judges - Men who were raised up in an extraordinary manner to administer the affairs of the nation, to defend it from enemies, etc. See Jdg 2:16.
About the space of four hundred and fifty years - This is a most difficult passage, and has exercised all the ingenuity of chronologists. The ancient versions agree with the present Greek text. The difficulty has been to reconcile it with what is said in 1Ki 6:1, “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel ...he began to build the house of the Lord.” Now if to the 40 years that the children of Israel were in the wilderness there be added the 450 said in Acts to have been passed under the administration of the judges, and about 17 years of the time of Joshua, 40 years for Samuel and the reign of Saul together, and 40 years for the reign of David, and three years of Solomon before he began to build the temple, the sum will be 590 years, a period greater by 110 years than that mentioned in 1Ki 6:1. Various ways have been proposed to meet the difficulty. Doddridge renders it, “After these transactions, (which lasted) 450 years, he gave them a series of judges,” etc., reckoning from the birth of Isaac, and supposing that Paul meant to refer to this whole time. But to this there are serious objections:
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(1) It is a forced and constrained interpretation, and one manifestly made to meet a difficulty.
(2) There is no propriety in commencing this period at the birth of Isaac. That was in no manner remarkable, so far as Paul’s narrative was concerned; and Paul had not even referred to it. This same solution is offered also by Calovius, Mill, and DeDieu. Luther and Beza think it should be read 300 instead of 400. But this is a mere conjecture, without any authority from mss. Vitringa and some others suppose that the text has been corrupted by some transcriber, who has inserted this without authority. But there is no evidence of this; and the mss. and ancient versions are uniform. None of these explanations are satisfactory. In the solution of the difficulty we may remark:
(1) That nothing is more perplexing than the chronology of ancient facts. The difficulty is found in all writings; in profane as well as sacred. Mistakes are so easily made in transcribing numbers, where letters are used instead of writing the words at length, that we are not to wonder at such errors.
(2) Paul would naturally use the chronology which was in current, common use among the Jews. It was not his business to settle such points; but he would speak of them as they were usually spoken of, and refer to them as others did.
(3) There is reason to believe that what is mentioned here was the common chronology of his time. It accords remarkably with that which is used by Josephus. Thus, (Antiq., book 7, chapter 3, section 1), Josephus says expressly that Solomon “began to build the temple in the fourth year of his reign, 592 years after the exodus out of Egypt,” etc. This would allow 40 years for their being in the wilderness, 17 years for Joshua, 40 for Samuel and Saul, 40 for the reign of David, and 452 years for the time of the judges and the times of anarchy that intervened. This remarkable coincidence shows that this was the chronology which was then used, and which Paul had in view.
(4) This chronology has the authority, also, of many eminent names. See Lightfoot and Boyle’s Lectures, Acts 20. In what way this computation of Josephus and the Jews originated it is not necessary here to inquire. It is a sufficient solution of the difficulty that Paul spake in their usual manner, without departing from his regular object by settling a point of chronology.
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 Chronology only gives about 350 years from the entrance…
Chronology only gives about 350 years from the entrance into the land of promise to the end of Samuel’s judicial government, who was the last of the judges. (Bible de Vence)
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 after that he gave . . . judges .…
after that he gave . . . judges . . . about the space of four hundred and fifty years--As this appears to contradict Kg1 6:1, various solutions have been proposed. Taking the words as they stand in the Greek, thus, "after that, by the space of four hundred fifty years, He gave judges," the meaning may be, that about four hundred fifty years elapsed from the time of the covenant with Abraham until the period of the judges; which is historically correct, the word "about" showing that chronological exactness was not aimed at. But taking the sense to be as in our version, that it was the period of the judges itself which lasted about four hundred fifty years, this statement also will appear historically correct, if we include in it the interval of subjection to foreign powers which occurred during the period of the judges, and understand it to describe the whole period from the settlement of the tribes in Canaan to the establishment of royalty. Thus, from the Exodus to the building of the temple were five hundred ninety-two years [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 8.3.1]; deduct forty years in the wilderness; twenty-five years of Joshua's rule [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 5.1.29]; forty years of Saul's reign (Act 13:2); forty of David's and the first four years of Solomon's reign (Kg1 6:1), and there remain, just four hundred forty-three years; or, in round numbers, "about four hundred fifty years."
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 20. After that—The true reading of this passage, as…
20. After that—The true reading of this passage, as adopted by Bornemann, Lachmann, and Wordsworth, would be: “He assigned their land to them by inheritance for about four hundred and fifty years; after that he gave them judges.” The about four hundred and fifty years would measure the period of covenanting the inheritance, namely, from the birth of Isaac to the commencement of the judges. There is, then, no discrepancy between this passage and 1Ki_6:1. But see Alford, who, after his method, denies that the two passages can be reconciled.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) After that he gave unto them judges .…
(20) After that he gave unto them judges . . .—The statement in the text, assigning 450 years to the period of the judges, and apparently reckoning that period from the distribution of the conquered territory, is at variance with that in 1Ki_6:1, which gives 480 years as the period intervening between the Exodus and the building of the temple. The better MSS., however, give a different reading—“He gave their land to them as an inheritance, about 450 years, and after these things he gave unto them judges,” the 450 years in this case being referred to the interval between the choice of “our fathers,” which may be reckoned from the birth of Isaac (B.C. 1897 according to the received chronology) to the distribution of the conquered country in B.C. 1444. So far as any great discrepancy is concerned, this is a sufficient explanation, but what has been said before as to the general tendency in a discourse of this kind to rest in round numbers, has also to be remembered. (See Note on Act_7:6.) Josephus (Ant. viii. 3, § 1) gives 592 years from the Exodus to the building of Solomon’s Temple. Of this period sixty-five years were occupied by the wanderings in the wilderness and the conquest under Joshua, eighty-four by the reigns of Saul and David and the first four years of Solomon, leaving 443 years for the period of the Judges. This agrees, it will be seen, sufficiently with the Received text in this passage, but leaves the discrepancy with 1Ki_6:1 unexplained. There would of course, be nothing strange in St. Paul’s following the same traditional chronology as Josephus, even where it differed from that of the present Hebrew text of the Old Testament.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 20. After that he gave unto them judges about…
20. After that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years. This statement seems to conflict with 1 Kings 6:1, which assigns 480 years to the period between the coming out of Egypt and the fourth year of the reign of Solomon. This would allow only about 300 years to the period of the Judges. David's reign was forty years, Saul's the same, the period in the wilderness the same, Joshua ruled about twenty-five years, add four years for Solomon, and we have 149 years, which, taken from 480 years, leaves 331 for the time of Judges and Samuel. The apparent discrepancy between Paul and the writer of 1 Kings is removed, however, by the Revision, based on the oldest and best Greek text. It changes the place where “and after that” occurs, so that the passage reads, “When he had destroyed the seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years: and after these things (i. e., after the allotment of the land and all before mentioned) he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.” The 450 years, in my judgment, includes the period from the departure out of Egypt to the reign of David, the two greatest eras in Jewish history before Christ.
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.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes one verse 17
See notes one verse 17
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.