Acts 9:25 - Exposition

But for then, A.V.; his disciples for the disciples, A.V. and T.R.; through for by, A.V lowering him in for in, A.V. Lowering him , etc. The A.V. gives the sense freely; and combining the verb καθῆκαν with the participle χαλάσαντες , translates both by the one word "let him down." The by of the A.V. seems preferable to the through of the R.V., as through suggests the idea, which cannot be intended, of making a hole in the wall. The escape of the spies from Jericho, as described in Joshua 2:15 , was exactly in the same way, except that they had only a rope to descend by, whereas St. Paul had a rope-basket. In the description of his escape given by St. Paul to the Corinthians ( 2 Corinthians 11:33 ), he uses the same word for "let down" ( ἐχαλάσθην ), tells us he was let down "by the wall," R.V. διὰ τοῦ τείχους , with the additional particular that he got out through the window, διὰ θυρίδος , and that it was a σαργάνη , a basket made of ropes (which describes the kind of basket somewhat more accurately than the σπυρίς here used) in which he was let down (see note on Joshua 2:20 ). The passage in 2 Corinthians gives us a further interesting account of how the Jews went about to accomplish their purpose of killing Paul. It seems that at this time, either in revolt against the Romans or by permission of Caligula (it is not known certainly which), a certain Aretas, or Hareth, King of Arabia Petrea, included Damascus in his dominions for a time, i.e. through the reigns of Caligula and Claudius. He appointed an ethnarch, who was doubtless a Jew, to rule the large Jewish population according to their Law, and who was the ready tool of the unbelieving Jews, using his power as governor to have the gates kept day and night so as to prevent Saul's escape. But he that keepeth Israel neither slumbered nor slept, and by his watchful providence Saul escaped from their hands. As regards the R.Y., his disciples for the disciples, Alford adopts the reading λαβόντες δὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτόν , and holds αὐτοῦ of the R.T. to be simply a mistake for αὐτόν , caused by the situation of αὐτόν after λαβόντες . The R.T. cannot be right. "The disciples" is St. Luke's regular expression for "Christians" ( Acts 6:1 , Acts 6:2 , Acts 6:7 ; Acts 9:10 , Acts 9:19 , Acts 9:26 ; Acts 14:22 ; Acts 21:16 ), and is our Lord's name for his followers, but is never used by an apostle of his own followers (see 1 Corinthians 1:12 , 1 Corinthians 1:13 ; 1 Corinthians 3:4-7 ).