Acts 15:18 - Exposition

Who maketh these things known, etc., for who doeth all these things (in Acts 15:17 of A.V.); known for known unto God are all his works, A.V. and T.R. Known from the beginning of the world . The above passage from Amos 9:11 , Amos 9:12 , is quoted, not very exactly, though with no change of sense, from the LXX ., where it ends with the words, "saith the Lord, who doeth all these things," as in the A.V. But the LXX . verse 17 differs widely from the present Hebrew text. For whereas the Hebrew has, "That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen that are called by my Name," the LXX . (Cod. Alex.) have ὅπως ἂν ἐκζητήσωσιν οἱ κατάλοιποι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν κύριον καὶ ππάντα τὰ ἔθνη κ . τ . λ ., where it is evident that they read וּשׁרְדְיִ , seek after, for וּשׁרְיֵ , possess, and מדָאָ , men, for מוֹדאֶ , Edom. There is every appearance of the LXX ., followed here by St. James, having preserved the true reading. As regards the reading of the R.V. in verse 18, it is a manifest corruption. It is not the reading of either the Hebrew or the Greek version of Amos, or of any other version; and it makes no sense. Whereas the T.R., which is the reading of Irenaeus (3.12.), as Meyer truly says, "presents a thought completely clear, pious, noble, and inoffensive as regards the connection," though he thinks that a reason for rejecting it. Nothing could be more germane to St. James's argument than thus to show from the words of Amos that God's present purpose of taking the Gentiles to be his people was, like all his other works, formed from the beginning of the world (comp. Ephesians 1:9 , Ephesians 1:10 ; Ephesians 3:5 , Ephesians 3:6 ; 2 Timothy 1:9 , etc.). As regards the interpretation of the prophecy of Amos intended, the idea seems to be that that apparent ruin of the house and family of David which culminated in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus would be followed by those "sure mercies of David," which consisted in his resurrection from the dead, his exaltation to the right hand of God, and the gathering in of the Gentiles to his kingdom. The phrase, "the tabernacle of David," is rather difficult, because the word in the Hebrew is דיזִדָ תכַּסֻ , tabernacle or booth of David. It is the word used for the booths at the Feast of Tabernacles, and denotes a temporary shed of branches or the like of a very humble character. It is difficult to say why this word was used, unless it was to show that the house of David had fallen to a low estate before it was pulled down.