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Selected Verse: Acts 3:25 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ac 3:25 |
King James |
Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Ye are the children . . . of the covenant--and so the natural heirs of its promises.
in thy seed, &c.--(See on Gal 3:8, &c.). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Ye are the children of the prophets - Greek: "Ye are the sons of the prophets." The meaning is, not that they were literally the "descendants" of the prophets, but that they were their "disciples," "pupils," "followers." They professed to follow the prophets as their teachers and guides. Teachers among the Jews were often spoken of under the appellation of fathers, and disciples as sons, Mat 12:27. See notes on Mat 1:1. As they were the professed disciples of the prophets, they should listen to them. As they lived among the people to whom the prophets were sent, and to whom the promises were made, they should avail themselves of the offer of mercy, and embrace the Messiah.
And of the covenant - Ye are the sons of the covenant; that is, you are of the posterity of Abraham, with whom the covenant was made. The word "sons" was often thus used to denote those to whom any favor pertained. whether by inheritance or in any other way. Thus, Mat 8:12, "The children (sons) of the kingdom"; Joh 17:12, "the son of perdition." The word "covenant" denotes properly "a compact or agreement between equals, or those who have a right to make such a compact, and to choose or refuse the terms." When applied to God and man, it denotes a firm promise on the part of God; a pledge to be regarded with all the sacredness of a compact, that he will do certain things on certain conditions. It is called a covenant only to designate its sacredness and the certainty of its fulfillment, not that man had any right to reject any of the terms or stipulations. As man has no such right, as he is bound to receive all that his Maker proposes, so, strictly and literally, there has been no compact or covenant between God and man. The promise to which Peter refers in the passage before us is in Gen 22:18; Gen 12:3.
In thy seed - Thy posterity. See Rom 4:13, Rom 4:16. This promise the apostle Paul affirms had express reference to the Messiah, Gal 3:16. The word "seed" is used sometimes to denote an individual Gen 4:25; and the apostle Gal 3:16 affirms that there was special reference to Christ in the promise made to Abraham.
All the kindreds - The word translated "kindreds" πατριαὶ patriai denotes "those who have a common father or ancestor," and is applied to families. It is also referred to those larger communities which were descended from the same ancestor, and thus refers to nations, Eph 3:15. Here it evidently refers to "all nations."
Be blessed - Be made happy. |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
children
(Greek, "uihos", "sons"). |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
Covenant (διαθήκης)
See on Mat 26:28.
Made (διέθετο)
The Rev. gives covenanted in margin. The noun covenant is derived from the verb διατίθημι, originally to distribute or arrange. Hence to arrange or settle mutually; to make a covenant with. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Ye are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant - That in, heirs of the prophecies. To you properly, as the first heirs, belong the prophecies and the covenant. Gen 12:3. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| Ye are the children of the prophets - This is the argumentum ad hominem: as ye are the children or disciples of the prophets, ye are bound to believe their predictions, and obey their precepts; and not only so, but ye are entitled to their promises. Your duty and your interest go hand in hand; and there is not a blessing contained in the covenant which was made with your fathers but belongs to you. Now, as this covenant respected the blessings of the Gospel, you must believe in Jesus Christ, in order to be put in possession of all those blessings. |
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.