Acts 10:48

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(48) And he commanded them . . .—It would seem from this that St. Peter acted on the same general principle as St. Paul (1Corinthians 1:14-17), and left the actual administration of baptism to other hands than his own. Who administered it in this instance we are not told. Possibly there may have been an ecclesia already organised at Cæsarea, as the result of Philip’s work, and its elders or deacons, or Philip himself, may have acted under Peter’s orders. If those who came with him from Joppa had so acted, it would probably we may believe, have been stated.

Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.—The days so spent must have included at least one “first day of the week,” and both in the solemn breaking of bread, and in the social intercourse of the other days, Peter must have mingled freely with the new converts, eating and drinking with them (Acts 11:2), without any fear of being thereby defiled. That visit to Cæsarea, St. Luke dwells on as one of the great turning-points in the Apostle’s life, attesting his essential agreement with St. Paul. We can well understand how he shrank from marring the effect of that attestation by recording the melancholy inconsistency of his subsequent conduct at Antioch (Galatians 2:11-12).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:44-48 The Holy Ghost fell upon others after they were baptized, to confirm them in the faith; but upon these Gentiles before they were baptized, to show that God does not confine himself to outward signs. The Holy Ghost fell upon those who were neither circumcised nor baptized; it is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. They magnified God, and spake of Christ and the benefits of redemption. Whatever gift we are endued with, we ought to honour God with it. The believing Jews who were present, were astonished that the gift of the Holy Ghost was poured out upon the Gentiles also. By mistaken notions of things, we make difficult for ourselves as to the methods of Divine providence and grace. As they were undeniably baptized with the Holy Ghost, Peter concluded they were not to be refused the baptism of water, and the ordinance was administered. The argument is conclusive; can we deny the sign to those who have received the things signified? Those who have some acquaintance with Christ, cannot but desire more. Even those who have received the Holy Ghost, must see their need of daily learning more of the truth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And he commanded them ... - Why Peter did not himself baptize them is unknown. It might be, perhaps, because he chose to make use of the ministry of the brethren who were with him, to prevent the possibility of future cavil. If they did it themselves, they could not so easily be led by the Jews to find fault with it. It may be added, also, that it seems not to have been the practice of the apostles themselves to baptize very extensively. See 1 Corinthians 1:14-17, "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

48. he commanded them to be baptized—not doing it with his own hands, as neither did Paul, save on rare occasions (1Co 1:14-17; compare Ac 2:38; Joh 4:2).

prayed … him to tarry certain days—"golden days" [Bengel], spent, doubtless, in refreshing Christian fellowship, and in imparting and receiving fuller teaching on the several topics of the apostle's discourse.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In the name of the Lord; that is, in the name of our Saviour. But this does not imply, but that they were baptized according to our Saviour’s prescription, Matthew 28:19: but the Jews by their baptism were become the Lord’s, and had given up their names to Jesus Christ; under which title, the Lord, not only our Saviour, but the Father who anointed him, and the Spirit by whom he was anointed, is to be understood.

Then prayed they; Cornelius and the rest of his friends, which he caused to be present. At their entreaty, Peter, and others that came with him, {as Acts 11:12} tarried there, that they might further instruct, confirm, and comfort them; (as the best have ever need to learn, and to grow in grace and knowledge); and by this Peter showed that he looked upon himself and others as not bound to observe those precepts, (of the wise men, as they called them), forbidding them all familiarity with the uncircumcised.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he commanded them to be baptized,.... By some of the six brethren that came with him from Joppa, who might all of them, at least some of them, be ministers of the Gospel: and this he ordered to be done

in the name of the Lord; that is, of the Lord Jesus Christ, though not to the exclusion of the Father, and of the Spirit: perhaps the phrase, "in the name of the Lord", may stand connected with the word commanded; and the sense be, that in the name of the Lord, and by authority from him, he ordered them to be baptized:

then prayed they him to tarry certain days; partly to express their gratitude to him for the favour they had received through him as an instrument, and partly that they might be more instructed and established by him. And these baptized persons very likely laid the foundation of a Gospel church state in this place, which we find to continue in succeeding ages; in the "second" century Theophilus presided over it; and in the "third" century Origen and Pamphilus, were presbyters of it; and in the same age, succeeding one another, Theoctistus, Domnus, and Theotecnus were bishops of it; and in the beginning of the "fourth" century, Eusebius the famous ecclesiastical historian was bishop of this church, after him Acacius; in the fifth century Gelasius the successor of Eunomius bore the same office in it; and in the "sixth" century the bishop of this place was present in the fifth synod at Constantinople; and in the "seventh" century it appears there was a church in this place: in which century the Arabians, after they had besieged this city seven years, took it, and killed seven thousand persons in it; and since it has been in the hands of the Turks; and this seems to have put an end to the ecclesiastical state of this place, as Christian (s).

(s) Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 2. c. 2. p. 2. cent. 3. c. 2. p. 1. c. 7. p. 109. c. 10. p. 153. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 2. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 2. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 3. cent. 7. c. 2. p. 2. c. 3. p. 19.

Geneva Study Bible

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 10:48. προσέταξε, cf. St. Paul’s rule, 1 Corinthians 1:17. If Philip the Evangelist was at Cæsarea at the time, the baptism may have been intrusted to him.—ἐπιμεῖναι: diutius commorari, Blass, so manere amplius, Bengel, cf. Acts 21:4; Acts 21:10, Acts 28:12; Acts 28:14, and Acts 15:34 [243] (Blass); only in Luke and Paul, frequent in Acts, not found in Luke’s Gospel, cf. John 8:7; only once in LXX, Exodus 12:39, in classics as in text.—ἡμέρας τινάς, no doubt spent in further instruction in the faith: aurei dies, Bengel.

[243] R(omana), in Blass, a first rough copy of St. Luke.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

48. And he commanded them to be baptized] Peter seems to have refrained from baptizing converts, and we know that St Paul did so, and the latter indicates a reason which may have influenced all the twelve to appoint others to baptize, lest factions should arise, and men sever the Christian unity by calling themselves by the name of some one of the Apostles. Cp. 1 Corinthians 1:13-16.

in the name of the Lord] The oldest MSS. have “in the name of Jesus Christ.”

Then prayed they him to tarry certain days] It is probable that Peter consented to stay (see Acts 11:3), and thus shewed that he was prepared to act according to the teaching of the vision. We know that afterwards (Galatians 2:11-13) he wavered in his determination, and was rebuked by St Paul for so doing; but even the account of that rebuke shews us that Peter had laid aside his Jewish prejudices in a great degree, and had only acted, in the way which was blamed, through the influence of some still strict Jews who had come from Jerusalem to Antioch. St Luke is not to be supposed to be ignorant of that wavering action of St Peter because he does not mention it. For a similar Christian reticence, in a like case, see Acts 13:13 and note there.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 48. - Jesus Christ for the Lord, A.V. and T.R. No one forbidding or objecting, Peter immediately ordered that they should be baptized. He does not appear to have baptized them himself, any more than St. Paul did his converts (1 Corinthians 1:13-17). They prayed him to tarry with them, no doubt that they might receive fuller instruction in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, into which they had been baptized.



Acts 10:48