CHAPTER 10
Concerning Cornelius, what the angel said to him, and what again was said from heaven to Peter concerning the calling of the nations; in which account Peter, having been sent for, came to Cornelius. A repetition by Cornelius of those things of which the angel testified and informed him. The catechesis 1 of Peter into Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit upon those who heard; and how the believers from the nations were baptized.
Acts 10:1-6a There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, devout and fearing God with all his household, who did many alms for the people and prayed to God continually. About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God entering to him and saying to him, “Cornelius.” He, looking at him and being frightened, said, “What is it, Lord?” The angel said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now send men to Joppa and summon Simon who is called Peter.” He was staying with a certain Simon, a tanner.
They do not mention that both the Ethiopian and Cornelius held office, but that by their wealth and the influence surrounding them they were not hindered from living devoutly. This man therefore is not a Jew, nor under the laws, but already had anticipated our way of life. Seeing him, the eye of simple-mindedness, that his deeds are fine but dead and yet he has no faith, sends a representative to judge the deeds, so as to crown with faith one who competes well. And he does this also for the instruction of Peter, and more for the weaker ones. About the ninth hour , when he had been released from care, and was in silence and devotion. For this reason the author makes the man known and revealed, so that no one might say he is lying. Through this also he indicated his rank. “From a band called the Italian .” A band is what we now call a unit. [CHRYSOSTOM]
Acts 10:6b-7 There is a house by the sea. He will speak to you about what you must do. And when the angel who had spoken to Cornelius departed, he called two of his household servants and a devout soldier who attended him.
The apostles sought places separated from the cities, as friends of solitude and quiet. But what if another man had also happened to be named Simon? Behold, he gives a sign that he lives by the sea. He did not, however, state the reason, for fear that he weaken him, but dismissed him as being in the desire and eagerness to hear. [CHRYSOSTOM]
Acts 10:8-10a And having explained everything to them, he sent them off to Joppa. But on the next day, while they were traveling, Peter went up on the roof to pray at about the sixth hour. And there was a man who was very hungry and wanted to get something to eat; and they were preparing it.
See the humility of his spirit. For he did not say, "Call Peter to me"; for he would not summon him in the name of rank. Therefore he recounted everything so as even to persuade: so modest was the man. Yet nothing of greatness could be conceived of a man who kept himself apart at the tannery. [AMMONIUS]
Acts 10:10b-13a He fell into a trance. And he sees the heavens opened, and something like a great sheet coming down upon him, bound at the four corners, and being laid upon the earth, in which were all the four-footed animals of the earth, and the beasts, and the reptiles, and the birds of the heaven. And a voice came to him.
A trance denotes also a wonder-struck astonishment, and the soul’s being led outside the senses toward spiritual things. From this it is clear that some kind of spiritual vision came to him, as it were, his body being out of the soul’s ordinary state.
“ And he sees .” A supreme symbol of the whole inhabited world, that very screen. And the four principles signify the four elements. The apparent sheet denotes the denser world. The diverse animals are symbols of the condition of men. [EVAGRIUS]
Or, to speak more clearly, the Church is the sheet. The beasts within it are the nations. Therefore he beheld the Church bound by the four Gospels, in which all the peoples were contained.
Acts 10:13b-29a "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common or unclean." And the voice spoke to him again a second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common." This occurred three times, and immediately the vessel was taken up into heaven. While Peter was pondering within himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men sent by Cornelius, having inquired for the house of Simon, stood at the gate, and calling, they asked whether Simon called Peter lodged there. And while Peter was considering the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men seek you; but rise, go down, and go with them, not doubting at all, for I have sent them. So Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius and said, Behold, I am he whom you seek. What is the cause for which you have come? They said, Cornelius the centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to send for you to his house and to hear words from you. So when he had called them in, he entertained them. On the following day Peter went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him. And on the next day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and having called together his kinsmen and near friends, when Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up; I myself am also a man. Conversing with him he went in and found many gathered together, and he said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to associate with or to go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean; therefore I also came without objection when I was sent for.
The earth is the sheet, and the creatures in it are the beasts, those from the nations. And the “ kill and eat ,” because those too must be admitted. And the third to happen is this, the baptism. But as Peter was in confusion, the men came conveniently, resolving the confusion. For the soul readily receives the solution. Previously it had come into confusion, just as Joseph earlier suffered restraint to be disturbed, and then the angel came. (Matt. 1:20)
“ And having called out they inquired .” Since they inquired into a humble house from below, and they asked not the neighbors. Great is the power of the Spirit in what was said, that “ for I have sent them .” When Peter went down he inquired into the reason why, so that if he needed to leave immediately he might rush, and if not, he might entertain them in the house. And that some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied Peter homeward, for convenience. So that he might be a witness thereafter, when Peter must give an account to the disciples, that he too had been judged by the Spirit not to be partial.
Peter exhorts that the brutal and irrational sort of people be sacrificed, so that once they are cleansed what remains may become edible. The account of piety is delivered plainly, not once the divine voice having said that what God has sanctified is not common, but three times: that we may learn by the one voice God cleansing the Father, and by the other God cleansing the Only‑Begotten, and by the other the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps kneeling he had seen the vision: therefore the voice also said to him, “ Rise, Peter, kill and eat .” But it showed that what he had seen was divine by reason of his being raised into a trance of mind, and because the voice descended from there, and because on the third time it declared that it was unclean. Moreover, that they came from heaven, and were withdrawn therefore, is a great argument of purification. This, however, was done for those about whom he was afterward to tell the matter. For he himself had indeed heard, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles.” (Matthew 10:5-6)
That the voice was heard a third time likewise shows the truth of the vision itself. It is clear, however, that he did not wish the utterance to be understood as concerning all foods when he says, “ I have never eaten anything common or unclean ,” for oxen, goats, birds, and winged creatures would have been called common with him, since Peter was born among the Jews. For the Jews eat flesh, and among them the eating of meats is not forbidden. Since therefore he himself spoke from the beginning, or at least until he approached the Savior, it is certainly clear that he did not pronounce universally, saying “ common and unclean ,” but concerning those things which the law called common and unclean. And yet when Peter was making a discourse about those things which were common and unclean in the law, God, who had given a sign to the holy Church of Christ, judged nothing to be common to him; for all things are clean to him “which are received with thanksgiving.” (1 Tim. 4:4) But although the speech concerning the calling of the Gentiles was somewhat obscure, so that they should not say that those who were uncircumcised were common or unclean, Peter’s speech did not entitle people, but those things which were prohibited in the law, as has been shown. [OF SAINT EPIPHANIUS, BISHOP OF CYPRUS, FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF THE PANARION AGAINST THE HERESIES]
Acts 10:29b I therefore inquire for what reason you have summoned me.
Peter had already heard everything from the soldiers; but he wishes first that they confess, and to make them accountable in faith. [AMMONIUS]
Acts 10:30a And Cornelius said: From the fourth day until this hour I had been fasting, and at the ninth hour I was praying in my house.
It seems to him that the seasons of his life had become more exacting for him, and on certain days. For this reason he said, “ From the fourth day .” When then the angel appears to him, this is one day; and the day on which those sent from Cornelius withdrew is one; and the day on which they came is one; and on the fourth he appeared about the third hour, after which he prayed. See then the greatness of the prayer, when he committed himself to holiness; then the angel appears to him.
Acts 10:30b-35 And behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing (a man, he says, and not an angel; therefore he was without form 2 ), and he says, Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and call for Simon who is called Peter; he is lodging in the house of Simon the tanner by the sea. I therefore sent to you at once; and you did well to come. Now then we are all present before God to hear all that has been commanded you by the Lord. And Peter opening his mouth said, Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation the one who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.
" righteousness " instead of every virtue.
Acts 10:36-38a The message he sent to the sons of Israel, proclaiming peace through Jesus Christ, this One is Lord of all. You yourselves know what has happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed, concerning Jesus of Nazareth.
He says these things for the sake of those present, in order to draw them also into faith. Yet he grants to the sons of Israel the exception, so that they may not think themselves cast off forever. He is, he says, Lord of all .
Acts 10:38b-41a How God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, because God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging him on a tree. This one God raised on the third day, and he granted that he should be revealed not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by God for us.
Being anointed as Jesus with the Holy Spirit by God must be understood according to the human aspect. For since he emptied himself and in like manner partook for us of blood and flesh, those things that he has by nature, he is said, as God, to receive them by reason of the human element. For he does not receive them for himself, since he is the God Word (for they were his own), but for us, as a first fruits through himself.
Acts 10:41b-42 Who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to bear witness that he is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead.
Therefore, he confirms Christ's resurrection by the fact that they ate with him after the resurrection. For he did not make any sign from the resurrection; for the resurrection itself was a great sign, and there was no such sign of a resurrection as eating and drinking. [CHRYSOSTOM]
Acts 10:43 All the prophets testify concerning him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
Those who, he says, prophesied spoke concerning the forgiveness of sins; in this matter they said that these are forgiven by Jesus. Therefore also Isaiah, bringing forward his very person, says: "I am the one who wipes away your sins, and your lawless deeds." (Isa. 43:25)
Acts 10:44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the message. And the believers from the circumcision who had come with Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had also been poured out upon the Gentiles; for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter answered, "Can anyone withhold the water, preventing these people from being baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" He commanded that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
When they had believed that by baptism there is altogether the remission of sins, then the Spirit descended upon them. This, however, happened by God's ordaining for the great defense of Peter. Nor did the Spirit come in a common way, but they also spoke in tongues, which put those who had been companions into astonishment; because of which Peter immediately ordered them to be baptized in the name of the Lord . Nor did he say: Why is water needed, when the Holy Spirit has come upon them? For he knew that in the water divine signs are accomplished, namely burial and mortification, resurrection and life. Just as it is easy for us to be baptized and to emerge, so it is easy for God to bury the old man and show the new. This, however, is done on the third day, so that we may recognize that by the power of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit this is affected. Some, however, say that the resurrection of Christ made on the third day is shown, which brings this about in us. [SEVERIAN OF GABALA]
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Translator notes for Acts chapter 10.
1. Catechesis [κατήχησις] means oral instruction, the basic Christian teaching, or the transmission of the faith, often in a systematic way. It derives from the ancient Greek κατηχέω (to resound downwards), implying learning through the spoken word. It is the process of teaching the doctrines of the Christian faith to children and adults.
2. Oecumenius appears to have added a gloss in the Scripture text, which is rare for him. This gloss is taken from the comments by Chrysostom.