3–6 To Cornelius, then, one afternoon at the
regular hour of prayer (cf. 3:1) a heavenly messenger appeared in a vision. His
initial alarm at being adressed by such a visitant was overcome when he was
assured that his faithfulness in prayer and almsgiving had not been overlooked
by God but had been accepted by him as a worthy oblation. The angel’s language
is full of sacrificial terminology such as we find in the prescriptions for the
levitical offerings; Cornelius’s acts of piety and charity had ascended into
the divine presence like incense or the smoke of a sacrifice. God would honor
the “memorial” with a suitable response; the nature of that response would be
made clear to Cornelius if he sent to a certain house in Joppa and invited one
Simon Peter, who was resident there, to come and visit him. (F. F.
Bruce, The Book of Acts [The New International Commentary on the New
Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1988], 204)
“Your prayers and your acts of charity have ascended” (Gk. ἀνέβησαν) like the smoke of a sacrifice (cf. the
Hebrew word for a burnt-offering, ʿôlāh,
lit. “ascending”). For the sacrificial reference of the word “memorial” (Gk. μνημόσυνον) cf. Lev. 2:2 LXX, where this term is
used of the part of the cereal offering which was burnt, i.e., presented to
God. For the sacrificial efficacy of such religious acts as those of Cornelius
cf. Ps. 141 (LXX 140):2; Tob. 12:12, and in the NT Phil. 4:18; Heb. 13:15–16.
(Ibid., n. 10)
