Acts 13:17Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years" (Acts 13:16-21).

Here the reader should note that the holy Apostle Paul counts 450 years from the entry of the sons of Israel into the promised land until the prophet Samuel. Saul reigned forty years, and David reigned forty years. Solomon began the building of the Lord's temple in the fourth year of his reign.

How, then, is it written in chapter 6 of the Third Book of Kings that Solomon began to build the Lord's temple in the 440th year from the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt?

It seems that here, from ancient times, some error was made by writers and copyists, when the art of printing did not yet exist. It is necessary either to add the missing number of years in chapter 6 of the Third Book of Kings, or to reduce the years in the Acts of the Apostles.

Some Roman investigators, Agnius in the Chronicle and Cornelius a Lapide on Acts, chapter 13, reason and say that in Acts one must read 350 years instead of 450 years.

Here we shall add the following reasoning. First of all, one must know that the years of the judges of Israel are counted in one way according to the opinion of chroniclers, and in another according to the understanding of the interpreters of Divine Scripture.

The chroniclers count the years as they are written in the Bible, adding to them the years during which the Israelites were in bondage to foreigners. These are as follows.

Before Othniel they were in bondage to the Syrian king Chushan-rishathaim for eight years. After Othniel they were subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for eighteen years.

Before Barak they were in bondage to the Canaanite king for twenty years. After Barak they fell under the yoke of Midian for seven years.

Before Jephthah they were slaves of the Philistines for eighteen years. Before Samson they were again in bondage to the Philistines for forty years.

When all these years are joined together, we obtain 111 years. Here are excluded the twenty years during which the Israelites were in bondage to the Philistines after Eli the priest and in the days of Samuel.

The interpreters of Divine Scripture, however, reckon these years among the years of the judges of Israel in the following way. After the elders of Israel, who ruled the people after the death of Joshua, there was the judge Othniel, Caleb's younger brother. He judged the Israelites for forty years (Judg 3:9-11).

In those years, at the beginning of his exercise of the judgeship, the Israelites were in bondage to the Syrian king. This is clearly seen from Holy Scripture, where the following is written about Othniel:

"The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war against Chushan-rishathaim the king" (Judg 3:10).

Here one must take into account that he did not go out to war before becoming judge. Rather, he was first judge over Israel, and afterward, after some time, went out to war.

Consequently, the eight years during which the Israelites were in bondage to the Syrian king are partly included in the final years of the elders who preceded Othniel the judge. They are also partly included in the opening years of Othniel's rule as judge.

The chronograph of Kyr Dorotheos, metropolitan of Monemvasia, agrees with this. He says that in the days of Othniel's rule the Israelites were in bondage to the Syrian king and were delivered by Othniel.

The same must be understood about all the other years between the judges, during which the Israelites were under the power of foreigners. These years are partly included in the years of the judge whose rule was ending, and partly in the time of the judge entering office.

This may also be observed in the narrative concerning the days of the rule of the prophetess Deborah.

Those whom this good tidings first reached, the Jews of Jerusalem and their rulers, refused to receive it. They did not recognize the Messiah, nor understand the prophecies read every Sabbath in the synagogue. Yet by condemning the Messiah to death, they could not destroy the promise. Rather, unknowingly and contrary to their own expectation, they served its fulfillment. For He endured all that He had to suffer according to the prophets' predictions, and rose from the dead. You did not see Him, but through faith in Him you can receive forgiveness of sins and justification, which the Law could never give. Having proclaimed this promise, the Apostle added a warning against unbelief.

He exalted this people: during the Hebrew people's stay in Egypt, God exalted them by multiplying them greatly. He made them a strong people amid the Egyptian nation, a firm and mighty people whom the Egyptians themselves feared (Ex 1:7-10).

With an uplifted arm He brought them out: this is a figurative expression used very often in the sacred books when the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery is discussed.

God Jehovah is presented as the leader of His people, with His hand raised as a sign of protection for His people against all enemies.

Without the image, the expression means that God manifested His great power in delivering the Hebrews from Egypt.

He manifested this power especially in the miracles that preceded and accompanied the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt. He showed it above all in their miraculous passage through the Red Sea.

This event is everywhere in the sacred books presented as the greatest miracle, the greatest act of God's omnipotence.

Why? Evidently so that the gracious speech would produce equally favorable feelings toward the speaker and toward what he would say at the end, namely in the applications and conclusions drawn from the historical data given.

Saint John Chrysostom says: “See how he passes over the times of calamity in silence and nowhere displays their transgressions, but depicts the love of God for mankind, leaving them to reflect on this themselves.”

God's care for the Jews was especially expressed in feeding them with the miraculous manna, bread from heaven (see Jn 6:30-32), and in destroying the seven nations.

These were the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Hivites, Jebusites, and Perizzites (compare Deut 7:1), so that these nations would not incline the Jews to the same pagan habits.

All this, and what follows, is presented as the work of God's mercy toward the chosen people, guiding and educating them for the lofty event of the coming to them of the promised Messiah.

In order to bring the Jews to faith in Christ Jesus, the Apostle compels them to search the Scriptures (see Jn 5:39), which bore witness to Christ and salvation.

He reminds them, in its chief moments, of the history of the people of Israel. He recalls that special providential relation of God, whose final aim was to announce to Israel, by the gracious promise given already to the forefather Abraham (see Gen 18:18; 22:18; compare Acts 3:26), the Savior Jesus.

For the keeping of this promise, the God of this people separated it from among all other peoples as His own possession and adopted it (see Rom 9:4).

He exalted it, that is, He multiplied it, so that it became an actual people (see Acts 7:17; Gen 48:19).

Having brought it out of Egypt in the omnipotence of miracles, by His great power (see Deut 4:37), Jehovah made His people glorious in the eyes of all the surrounding nations.

All this was a manifestation of paternal zeal for His beloved firstborn (see Ex 4:22). Then, for about forty years, Jehovah cared for them and cherished them, bearing them on His wings (see Deut 32:11; Ex 19:4).

He filled their hearts with food (see Acts 14:17) and with joy in God, raising their consciousness to that eternal Source from which every creature is filled with goodness (see Ps 103:28).

Through all this He educated them spiritually. For Israel was to be not only a renowned and praiseworthy people, but also a holy people. Jehovah granted it outward separation from other peoples by destroying many of them.