11) Up to this time Paul had had only the divine intimation that he
would be bound (a prisoner) and placed into the hands of Gentiles in Jerusalem,
and this prophecy had been fulfilled. Now further light falls on his path.
Now on the following night
the Lord, having stepped up to him, said: Continue to be of good cheer! For as
thou didst testify the things concerning me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary
for thee to testify also in Rome.
The present imperative need not imply that Paul was downhearted. It
was not because “Paul never needed Jesus more than now” that the Lord appeared
to him, ἐπιστάς, came suddenly
upon him. This was only the second night of his confinement, and he was the
last man to lose courage quickly. The Lord is now adding more light of prophecy
and doing so not through others but in his own person. The imperative θάρσει, “continue to be of good cheer (comfort,
courage),” looks forward to the long imprisonment ahead of Paul. A spirit, as
full of energy as his, might not hold up under such long inactivity as the
weary months dragged along, and the clouds did not once lift. The Lord is
fortifying him in advance for that. He would very often lean on what the Lord
himself now reveals to him. (R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation
of the Acts of the Apostles [Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961],
940)
11. τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ νυκτί, as in
the more common ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ, the
following night. Paul is comforted by a vision (for presumably he sees the Lord
standing by him) and a heavenly voice. Cf. 18:9f.; 27:23f. (C.
K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles
[International Critical Commentary; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004], 1068)
But the night following his abortive appearance before the Sanhedrin,
the risen Lord appeared to Paul as he had done at critical moments before,
and bade him cheer up: Paul had borne witness to him in Jerusalem (a reference
this, no doubt, to his speech at the top of the steps to the crowd in the
temple court), and he would live to bear similar witness in Rome. This
assurance meant much to Paul during the delays and anxieties of the next two
years, and goes far to account for the calm and dignified bearing which from
now on marks him out as a master of events rather than their victim. His plan
to see Rome, he now knows, is certain of fulfilment; with that he is content.
(F. F. Bruce, The Book of Acts [The New International Commentary
on the New Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1988], 430)
Note to portion
in bold (Ibid., n. 32):
Gk. ἐπιστάς,
translated “came and stood over” above so as to bring out the force of the
aorist.
11 ἐπ-ιούσῃ ptc -ειμι
(< ἐπι- + obs. εἶμι, inf. ἰέναι, go) come
on, come next, τῇ
ἐπ. νυκτί the following night. ἐπι-στάς aor2
(intr.) ptc ἐφ-ίστημι, in intr. tenses come and stand by. θάρσει keep up your courage, impv -σέω have or take
courage. δι-ε-μαρτύρω aor. (mid.
2nd sg) δια-μαρτύρομαι assert, affirm; bear
witness to. τὰ περὶ ἐμοῦ (the
facts about) me. εἰς for ἐν §99.
μαρτυρῆσαι aor. inf. -ρέω.
(Max Zerwick, A Grammatical
Analysis of the Greek New Testament [5th ed.; trans. Mary Grosvenor; Rome:
Biblical Institute Press, 1996], 433)
