Ver. 1. Where was a synagogue of the Jews] Who did much hurt there by their crossness, neither pleasing God nor profiting men, 1 Thessalonians 2:15.
Ver. 2. Out of the Scriptures] Wherein they were wondrously expert. Quilibet nostrum de lege interrogatus facilius quam nomen suum recitat, saith Josephus. We have the Scriptures at our fingers’ ends.
Ver. 3. Alleging] Or laying it so plain before their eyes (παρατιθεμενος), that they could not but see it, unless they were of those qui festucam quaerunt unde oculos sibi eruant, as Bernard hath it, who seek straws to put out their own eyes also.
Ver. 4. Consorted with Paul] Were knit unto them in the straitest bonds, as man and wife, brother and sister: Sanctior est copula cordis quam corporis. No such bond as religion, προσεκληρωθησαν.
Ver. 5. Of the baser sort] Viles et venales, saith one, Vagi, otiosique, saith another, such as had little to do but to walk the streets and run on errands, the rascality and sink of the city. Set all the City on an uproar] Quia perturbato statu melius consequi valent quod volunt. The devil loves to fish in troubled waters. When he hath set all on a hurry, as in Saul, then he can the sooner enter and play his pranks. So can his instruments.
Ver. 6. Turned the world, &c.] αναστατουντες. So Elias was called the troubler of Israel, Luther the trumpet of rebellion. It is not the gospel, but men’s corruption, that breeds the trouble; as it is not, the sea, but the foulness of men’s stomachs, that makes them seasick.
Ver. 7. Whom Jason hath received] υποδεδεκται. Clanculum excepit, so Erasmus well rendereth it, hath closely and covertly entertained them, as Obadiah did the Lord’s prophets. Contrary to the decrees of Caesar] Unicum crimen eorum, qui crimine vacabant. Tacit. The only crime of them who were without offense.
Ver. 8. And they troubled the people and the rulers] The devil and his agents, as they are of turbulent spirits, like Ishmael, Pope Urban (who was therefore called Turban, from his troublesomeness), and the Jesuits; so they love to fish in troubled waters, and to set all on a hurry by incensing rulers against the people of God, and seeking to persuade them that they are antimagistratical. Hence the devil again casteth some of them into prison, Revelation 2:10; sc. by his imps and instruments armed with authority.
Ver. 9. When they had taken security] It was happy that security would be taken, till the heat was over. For, “ Ut fragilis glacies frangitur ira mora. ” Ovid.
Ver. 10. Went into the synagogue] As he had done before at Thessalonica, and had sped so ill. Heroic spirits are no wit dismayed with difficulties; but rather whetted on thereby to more diligence in duty. And the servant of the Lord must not despond or desist, but be apt to teach, “patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if peradventure God will at any time give them repentance,” &c., 2 Timothy 2:24,25.
Ver. 11. Thee were more noble] Better gentlemen (ευγενεστεροι). Virtue is instead of a thousand escutcheons. “Since thou hast been precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable,” Isaiah 43:4. The nobles of Israel made their staves (the ensigns, haply, of their honour) instruments of the common good, Numbers 21:18; when the nobles of Tekoah are blemished in their blood for this, that they “put not their necks to the work of their Lord,” Nehemiah 3:5. The Biscanies vaunt of themselves among the Spaniards that they are the right Hidalgoes, that is, gentlemen, as the Welshmen do here. But Christian nobility is the best and truest where God himself is the top of the kin, and religion the root; in regard whereof all other things are but shadows and shapes of nobleness. The Jews of Berea were more neble, or of better descent, Non per civilem dignitatem, sed per spiritualem dignationem, as one saith: Not by civil descent, but by spiritual advancement. The shield or shield-shaped surface on which a coat of arms is depicted; also in wider sense, the shield with the armorial bearings; a sculptured or painted representation of this. ŒD
Ver. 12. Therefore many of them believed] There are certain abilities and actions we have, and may perform without special grace; in the employment whereof we are to expect the effectual work of the Spirit. See it in these noble Bereans; they brought their bodies to the assembly, took the heads of Paul’s sermons very truly, repeated and examined the notes they had taken, and yet were unconverted, as appears by this verse. Now if any, of us do hide the like talent, we are not to expect the Spirit of sanctification. As our liberty in external acts (as to come to church to hear, &c.) is still some, so must our endeavours be answerable.