The works of the Reverend and learned John Lightfoot D. D., late Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge such as were, and such as never before were printed : in two volumes : with the authors life and large and useful tables to each volume : also three maps : one of the temple drawn by the author himself, the others of Jervsalem and the Holy Land drawn according to the author's chorography, with a description collected out of his writings.

ACTS. CHAP. XI. Vers. 19.

Now they which were scattered abroad, &c.

IN this fourth year of Caius, and forty first of our Saviour, we conjecture these oc∣currences to have been in the Church: namely Antiochs receiving the Gospel: Bar∣nabas his being sent from Jerusalem, and preaching there to the conversion of many: his going to Tarsus to hearken out Saul: and his bringing him thither: and there did they two spend a whole year in preaching, which whole year may very probably be concluded to have been the next year after this that we have in hand, or in the first of Claudius, in which year Agabus prophecyed of the great famine which was to come, which befel in the second of Claudius, as we observed and proved before. So that we may hence take up the time of these Ministers dispersion and preaching up and down, which were scattered at the death of Stephen; namely, that they had been in this employ∣ment and travail for the space of six whole years or thereabout: And in this time they had gone over Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, and were now got out of the Land of Ca∣naan into Phaenicia, Cyprus, and Syria, and yet preached the Gospel to none but Jews onely.

Vers. 20.Men of Cyprus and Cyrene.

Men of these places by Original, but of Jerusalem, or some other part of Canaan by education and residence, as Simon, Alexander, and Rufus were. Mark 15. 21. and Bar∣nabas, Acts 4. 36.

§. They spake unto the Grecians.

Gr. To the Hellenists: This word is not opposed to the word Jews in the preceding verse, but it is a part of the same story: for that telleth of their preaching to the Jews in Phenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch; and this telleth of the fruit of their Ministry to the Jews in Antioch, that it was to the conversion of many of them. That sheweth that they came to Antioch, and preached to Jews only, this sheweth who they were that came to Antioch, and how they preached to the Hellenists, which must be understood in the same sense with the former: But he calleth them Hellenists, because they were Jews of the Corporation or enfranchisment of the City, for Antioch was a Syrogrecian City.

Vers. 22. They sent forth Barnabas.

He himself was an Hellenist, being a man of Cyprus; and he was to be a fellow helper to the Apostle of the Gentiles for their conversion: and therefore he a very fit man to go to this Gentile City, who coming thither and seeing a great conversion of all sorts of people, Gentiles as well as Jews, he goeth over to Tarsus to seek the Doctor of the Gen∣tiles, to bring him over thither to a work agreeable to that his function, to preach to the Gentiles.