Acts 10:10-20
10. a trance—differing from the "vision" of Cornelius, in so far as the things seen had not the same objective reality, though both were supernatural.
9-16. upon the housetop—the flat roof, the chosen place in the East for cool retirement.
the sixth hour—noon.12. all manner of four-footed beasts, &c.—that is, the clean and the unclean (ceremonially) all mixed together.
9-16. upon the housetop—the flat roof, the chosen place in the East for cool retirement.
the sixth hour—noon.14. Not so, Lord—See Marginal reference.
I have never eaten anything that is common—that is, not sanctified by divine permission to eat of it, and so "unclean." "The distinction of meats was a sacrament of national distinction, separation, and consecration" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].15. What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common—The ceremonial distinctions are at an end, and Gentiles, ceremonially separated from the chosen people (Ac 10:28), and debarred from that access to God in the visible ordinances of His Church which they enjoyed, are now on a perfect equality with them.
16. done thrice—See Ge 41:32.
17-24. while Peter doubted . . . what this should mean, behold, the three men . . . stood before the gate . . . and asked—"were inquiring," that is, in the act of doing so. The preparations here made—of Peter for his Gentile visitors, as of Cornelius for him—are devoutly to be noted. But besides this, at the same moment, "the Spirit" expressly informs him that three men were inquiring for him, and bids him unhesitatingly go with them, as sent by Him.
Acts 10:48
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.