Chapter Eleven
CHAPTER ELEVEN
11:6 nd I saw the four-footed creatures of the earth and the beasts and the reptiles and the birds of the sky, and so forth. I am amazed at how some people interpret this as having to do with certain foods which were prohibited by the old law but which are now to be consumed, since neither serpents nor reptiles can be eaten. Nor did Peter himself understand it in this way. Rather [he understood it as meaning that] all people are equally called to the gospel of Christ, and nothing is naturally defiled. For when he was reproached, he explained the symbolism'* of this vision, not [as giving the reason] why he ate beasts, but why he associated with gentiles.
11:12
And these six brothers came with me. It is beautifully appropriate that when the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit were poured out, the witnesses were brothers who were seven in number. Alternatively, because this world was formed in six days, the works accomplished [by Peter] were demonstrated through the six brothers who fittingly accompanied the teacher when, among the words of his exhortation, he described to his hearers the exemplary work which he had accomplished.
11:18
And they glorified God, saying, 'Therefore to the gentiles also God has given repentance unto life.'
Here is what we read in the book of the blessed Job: Gold will come from the north, and fearful praise to God," since
1, Ac 11:2—3.
2. Jb 37:22, Vulg.
Chapter Eleven the splendor of faith first sprang to life in the cold heart of the gentile world, and in virtue of this same unexpected faith, the Jewish world, trembling with fear, glorified God.*
11:19
They travelled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, and so forth. Now from this point on, after the revelation of the linen sheet of the gospel (in which the holy animals gently rested in heavenly hope),* the church's sphere began to increase, as the gospel came to be preached through the outlying provinces, islands, and cities, not only to the Jews, but also to the gentiles.
11:25
He [Barnabas] journeyed to Tarsus to look for Saul. For it was said above that Saul was secretly sent from Jerusalem to Tarsus.° 11:28
And one of them named Agabus got up and revealed through the Spirit that a great famine was going to occur. Agabus can be said to mean herald of tribulation.® In accordance with his name he also here prophesied a general famine and [as we learn] below, he prophesied chains for Paul the apostle.'
11:29
They [the disciples] proposed to send relief to the brothers dwelling in Judaea. They knew that the famine would rage most severely in Judaea, and especially in Jerusalem, where among the saints there were poor people who had sold their goods, homes, and fields, and had brought the proceeds to the apostles, so that they had no way left to obtain much more money. And some were punished by the unbelieving Jews for their confession of the faith by having their own property taken away. To them the apostle said, You joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods.® Among these givers of alms we are told of the 3. Greg., Moral. 27, 43, 71 (PL 76:440B/C).
4. Ac 10:11-16.
5. Ac 9:30.
6. Jer., De nom. Hebr. (CC 72:143,, 6/7) 7. Ac. 21:10-11.
8. Heb 10:34.
Chapter Eleven
pious deed of Helen, queen of the Adiabeni, who purchased grain from Egypt and most generously provided for the needs of those dwelling in Jerusalem. She thus merited a sepulchre to honor her before the gates of the same city.?
9. Eusebius/Rufin., Hist. eccl. 2, 12 (GCS 9, 1:133, 6/8, 15/16).
NOTES TO CHAPTER ELEVEN
1. 'Symbolism': mysterium. See note 2 to ch. 1.