the population of the ancient world, or about 4 millions in all. Of these only about 700,000 lived in Palestine. The remainder were dispersed all over the world. Large numbers of them made pilgrimages to Jerusalem to keep the feasts. It is stated that there were often no less than two millions of people present at Jerusalem when one of the great festivals was being

celebrated.

6. when this was noised abroad. The R.V., "when this sound was heard,” is a better translation of the Greek.

9-10. The Parthians were an important people who lived in the country south of the Caspian Sea. Their kingdom extended from India to the Tigris. Tedes. Their country lay to the south-west of the Caspian Sea, between Parthia and Armenia. Elamites. They dwelt in the district known as Susiana, to the north of the Persian Gulf, between the Tigris and Persia. Mesopotamia. The district between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Cappadocia was situated on the eastern border of what we now call Asia Minor. Pontus. A district in the north-east of Asia Minor. Asia. In the New Testament the term Asia is used in a sense quite different from its present meaning. It never refers to the continent of Asia, but to the Roman province which was situated on the western coast-line of Asia Minor. Phrygia. A district to the west of Cappadocia. Pamphylia. A country on the south coast of Asia Minor. Libya. The ancient name for Africa. Cyrene. The capital of Cyrenaica, a district in the north of Africa, opposite to Greece.

11. Cretes and Arabians. These words were

probably added as an afterthought. Crete is a large island south-east of Greece.

We do hear . . . in our tongues. If the theory advocated in the introduction to this paragraph be correct, this exclamation must be a gloss added to the story by Luke or his informant.

13. full of new wine. Compare 1 Cor. xiv. 23, where Paul says that the effect produced by the gift of tongues on those outside the Church is to make them think that the Christians are mad.

Acts ii. 14-40.

PETER'S FIRST GREAT SPEECH.

14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my 15 words: for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it 16 is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was 17 spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men 18 shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my hand

maidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and 19 they shall prophesy: and I will shew wonders in heaven

above, and signs in the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and 20 vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness,

and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day 21 of the Lord come: and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as 23 ye yourselves also know: him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden 25 of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face; for he is on my right hand, 26 that I should not be moved; therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh 27 shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see cor28 ruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;

thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his 30 sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, 31 he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corrup32 tion. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are 33 witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God

exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see 34 and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens :

but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit 35 thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy foot36 stool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,

that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have cruci37 fied, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall 38 we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be

baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the 39 Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the 40 Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

These verses do not pretend to give a full and verbatim report of Peter's speech (see ver. 40), but merely a condensed summary of his line of argument. This makes the speech a little difficult to follow. Peter begins by repudiating the charge of drunkenness, and arguing that the Baptism of the Spirit is a fulfilment of Joel's prophecy (vers. 14-20). In order to substantiate this position, he finds it necessary to reply to a number of objections which would arise in the minds of his audience. (1) What right have you to connect yourselves and your Leader, Jesus, with Old Testament prophecy? The answer is, "Jesus was proved to have been sent by God by the miracles which He performed" (ver. 22). (2) But He was put to death. Does not that destroy His claims? No," is the reply; "His death was part of the 'determinate counsel of God.' Besides, He has risen from the dead" (vers. 23, 24). (3) But how can you prove that He rose from the dead? “We have a threefold proof," Peter replies: "(a) the Resurrection was definitely predicted in the Psalms (vers. 25-31); (b) we ourselves were witnesses of it (ver. 32); (c) the Baptism of the Spirit is His work (ver. 33). Being exalted by [or rather 'to'] the right hand of the Father . . . he hath poured forth this.' (4) What ground have you for asserting that He has been exalted to the Father?

66

"The clear witness of the 110th Psalm," is Peter's

answer.

This speech is of immense value, because it contains, in concise form, an outline of the earliest Christian theology. We have here the first attempt to account for the personality of Jesus and the first explanation of His death.

15. the third hour of the day. I.e., nine o'clock in the morning.

17-21. I will pour out of my Spirit. This quotation is taken from Joel ii. 28-32. The following words are added by Peter: "in the last days, saith God," ver. 17 (the Hebrew says simply "afterward"); " and they shall prophesy," ver. 18; the words "above," "beneath," "and signs in ver. 19.

22. approved of God. Accredited by God, proved to have come from God. The miracles of Christ, Peter argues, prove that He was sent by God.

23. by the determinate counsel . . . God. The death of Christ seems to have been a serious problem to the first generation of Christians. They were completely staggered by the tragedy on Calvary, and did not know how to account for it. All they could say was, "It is God's will and part of His eternal purpose (cf. iv. 28). Some time elapsed before they were able to grasp the meaning of the Divine purpose, and see the connection between the death of Christ and the forgiveness of sins.

25. David speaketh. The quotation is from Ps. xvi. 8-11. The same words are used by Paul in his speech at Antioch, in Pisidia (chap. xiii. 35). We have here another instance of an argument