The Conversion of Cornelius (10:1–48)

The conversion of Cornelius and his household represents the decisive step forward in the spread of Christianity to the Gentiles. Cornelius was not the first Gentile to receive Christ, however. Already a Gentile proselyte (6:5), an Ethiopian Gentile (8:26–39), and some converts of Philip (8:40) have become followers of Christ. But this situation is unique because of the involvement of the apostle Peter (the recognized leader of this new movement) and God’s miraculous superintending of the events (including God’s revelation to Peter that he had declared all foods pure).

CAESAREA MARITIMA AND ITS ENVIRONS

This significant event probably occurs sometime between A.D. 39–40. This means it happens roughly ten years after the death and resurrection of Jesus and about seven years after Paul’s conversion.

Caesarea (10:1). Caesarea Maritima was a major seaport city about sixty miles northwest of Jerusalem. Politically it functioned as the provincial capital of Judea and was home to the Roman governors.176 The city had only recently been built by Herod the Great over the former site of a coastal town called Strato’s Tower and occupied 235 acres within the perimeter wall.

Herod commissioned an army of workers to begin work on the city and the harbor in 23 B.C. and actually completed the immense undertaking in a decade. He spared no expense in fulfilling his vision of creating a major international port that rivaled Alexandria and Piraeus (the port of Athens). In creating the first artificial harbor in the ancient world, Herod’s engineers made use of a new sophisticated technology. Creating immense wooden forms, the engineers made much of the harbor and breakwater with a type of concrete that hardened underwater.

The City of Caesarea

Important Facts:

■ Population: over 50,000

■ Prominent Religions: Tyche (Fortuna); Ephesian Artemis (Diana); Apollo; Dionysus; Isis; Serapis; Demeter; Mithras; Ruler cult (Augustus and Roma); Judaism

■ The major port city for Palestine

■ A city recently constructed by Herod the Great (begun in 23 B.C.)

■ Seat of the Roman Government for the Province of Judea

He patterned the city itself on the style of a Roman provincial capital with all of the amenities (including temples, theater, market, hippodrome, and an amphitheater). The beautiful four thousand-seat theater was located at the south end of the city with the seats facing the Mediterranean. Archaeologists estimate that the seating capacity around the oval track of the hippodrome was thirty thousand. The city was laid out on the Hellenistic grid model with streets that ran north-south and east-west. The infrastructure of the city included an intricate sewer system and an abundant water supply. Herod’s engineers designed an immense aqueduct that brought water from mountain springs (at Shuni) some six miles to the north. Most of the aqueduct was carried on high arches, but part of it is through a quarter of a mile long tunnel, which was bored through a sandstone ridge.

Herod named the city after Caesar Augustus, the reigning emperor. Josephus tells us of the great honor he bestowed on Caesar: “On rising ground opposite the harbour-mouth stood Caesar’s temple, of exceptional size and beauty; in it was a colossal statue of Caesar, no whit inferior to the Olympian Zeus which it was intended to resemble, and one of Rome comparable with the Hera of Argos. Herod dedicated the city to the province, the harbour to those who sailed these seas, and the honour of his new creation to Caesar: Caesarea was the name he gave it.”177

The city had great significance for Christianity not only because of Luke’s portrayal of the conversion of the Gentile family of Cornelius, but also as the place where Origen (A.D. 185–254) and Eusebius (A.D. 260–340) lived and taught. For Jews, painful memories were associated with Caesarea. At the outset of the Jewish war in A.D. 66, the Gentile citizens of the city massacred nearly the entire population of Caesarea’s Jews.178

A man named Cornelius (10:1). Cornelius may have been a descendant of one of the ten thousand slaves freed by the Roman general L. Cornelius Sulla Felix in 82 B.C.179 It is not uncommon for freedmen to take on the family name (gens) of their emancipator. On the other hand, “Cornelius” was a rather common Latin name.

He was a fairly wealthy man of status living in a beautiful city. Evidently he has been stationed in Caesarea for a long period of time because he possesses a home, his family is with him, and he has been there long enough to perform many generous deeds for the Jewish community. It is also possible that he has retired from the military and has chosen to settle in Caesarea. Nothing is known of this man outside of the biblical account.

CAESAREA MARITIMA

Remains of the ancient harbor.

Ruins near the harbor.

The theater. The aqueduct is visible in the top right of the photo.

A centurion (10:1). “The centurions are the principal professional officers in the Roman army.”180 They served as the commanding officers over troops of eighty to a hundred men and are paid well. “The financial attraction of the centurionate, however, was that the pay was probably some sixteen times that of the basic legionary salary. In short, a centurion had both considerable military and social status and wealth.”181 As a centurion, Cornelius was also a Roman citizen. The historian Polybius (1st cent. B.C.) says of centurions: “They wish centurions not so much to be venturesome and daredevil as natural leaders, of a steady and sedate spirit. They do not desire them so much to be men who will initiate attacks and open the battle, but men who will hold their ground when worsted and hard pressed and be ready to die at their posts.”182

The Italian Regiment (10:1). This is the earliest reference (c. A.D. 40) to the Cohors II Italica voluntariorum civium Romanorum (the “Second Italian Cohort of Roman Citizens”), known from Latin inscriptions.183 This cohort was present in Syria during the Jewish revolt (A.D. 66–70) and remained there for an extended period of time following the war. It was likely made up of Roman citizens who were in some sense “Italian.” Some of the soldiers were possibly local Syrian recruits or freedmen.184

Roman Military Command Structure
Roman Military Title Amount of Men

1. Century

100

2. Maniple

200 (two Centuries)

3. Cohort

600 (three Maniples)

4. Legion

6000 (ten Cohorts)

CALIGULA

A marble bust of the renown emperor who reigned A.D. 37–41.

Devout and God-fearing (10:2). Cornelius turns his back to the gods of the military (such as Mithras) and the household gods of Rome and embraces the one true God of Israel as the object of his devotion. He attaches himself to the synagogue (without becoming a full proselyte), sharing his wealth with those in need (in the Jewish community) and praying regularly.

At about three in the afternoon (10:3). This was a set Jewish time of prayer. We can assume that Cornelius is praying at this time and receives the vision in the context of prayer. The time is also further evidence that Cornelius is not simply dreaming.

He had a vision (10:3). Cornelius distinctly sees an angel appear and speak to him by name. Throughout this early period in the spread of Christianity, God frequently uses angels to give direction to his servants.185

As a memorial offering before God (10:4). Just as the Old Testament describes the smoke of a burnt offering ascending to the presence of the Lord (see Lev. 2:2), Cornelius’s generous giving and his regular and sincere prayers are pleasing to the Lord. This is consistent with the way prayer is described elsewhere in the Old Testament: “May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2). God receives Cornelius’s prayer and giving as acceptable offerings from this Gentile man who responds according to the light of revelation he has received through the synagogue. Now God will give him the full revelation of Jesus Christ.

Send men to Joppa (10:5). Joppa is about thirty miles south of Caesarea.

JOPPA

The modern site of Joppa (or, Jaffa).

About noon (10:9). Noon, or “the sixth hour,” is not one of the normal Jewish times of prayer (although Daniel sets aside three times a day to pray; see Dan. 6:10). Peter here illustrates the practice of the apostles and the early Christians to pray frequently.

ROOFS

These are homes in the village of Der Samet in the area of Hebron. Inhabitants sleep on the roofs during the hot summer nights.

Peter went up on the roof to pray (10:9). Palestinian homes typically had flat roofs with access from an outdoors stairway. It was common for the occupants to climb the stairs to the roof and sit on the top of the house, especially in the summertime, to benefit from a cool breeze. Peter goes to the roof at noon time probably to find a place where he can pray undisturbed.

He fell into a trance (10:10). Whereas Cornelius has a vision (horama) in which an angel of the Lord appears to him, Peter falls into a trance (ekstasis) and has a vision of heaven opening. The term literally means “to stand outside of yourself” and refers to a state of being brought about by God “in which consciousness is wholly or partially suspended.”186 The same word is used to describe the vision Daniel sees on the banks of the Tigris River after fasting for three weeks and interceding for the people of Israel (Dan. 10:7).

He saw heaven opened (10:11). Stephen experiences the same phenomenon (see comments on 7:56).

Something like a large sheet (10:11). The term othonē, translated here as “sheet,” refers to a linen cloth. Linen had a variety of applications with a sheet (such as a bed sheet) being just one. The term is used often in ancient literature for the sails of a ship, as in Martyrdom of Polycarp 15:2: “like the sail (othonē) of a ship filled by the wind.” The sheet Peter sees is suspended by its four corners and filled with a large number of animals.

All kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air (10:12). In this vision, Peter sees all kinds of animals. This description is reminiscent of the summary of animal life at the beginning of creation (Gen. 1:24). The Torah, however, prohibited the Israelites from eating certain animals. A detailed set of criteria for determining which animals were clean and which were to be regarded as unclean is given in Leviticus 11. There are four basic criteria:

• Land animals had to both chew the cud and have a split hoof.

• Sea creatures had to have fins and scales.

• Winged insects had to have jointed legs to hop.

• Birds of prey, reptiles, and other crawlers were off limits.

Among those animals the Israelites could not eat were camels, rabbits, pigs, eagles, vultures, owls, weasels, rats, and lizards. Peter sees many of these prohibited (and “unclean”) animals in the sheet, presumably mingled together with animals that are ritually pure.

I have never eaten anything impure or unclean (10:14). It is to Peter’s credit that he has never eaten any of the prohibited animals. As an observant Jew of his time, Peter exercises great sensitivity not to defile himself with any food that will render him ceremonially impure. God has clearly revealed in the law that he should not eat any of them: “Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them. I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy” (Lev. 11:43–44). Peter’s reaction to the vision and his perplexity are entirely understandable.

UNCLEAN ANIMALS IN JUDAISM

“Unclean” (akathartos) is the typical description in the law for the prohibited animals; “impure” (koinos) never appears. Koinos is more often translated as “common.” It comes to be used in later Judaism for the foods that Gentiles would eat. “The opposite is that which is sanctified or dedicated [hagios] and hence withdrawn from ordinary use.”187

Jewish literature is filled with examples of people who refused to defile themselves by consuming “common” or unkosher food. Note a few examples from the period around the Maccabean revolt that show the intensity of commitment to avoid unclean foods:

• Antiochus Epiphanes ordered everyone in his kingdom (which included Israel) to give up their ancestral customs “that all should be one people” (1 Macc. 1:41). This included a specific command to “sacrifice swine and unclean (koina) animals.” The commitment not to defile themselves with impure food was so strong in Israel that many gave their lives to obey it: “But many in Israel stood firm and were resolved in their hearts not to eat unclean food. They chose to die rather than to be defiled by food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die” (1 Macc. 1:62–63).

• Eleazar, priest during the Maccabean period, was praised for not defiling himself, although he was martyred: “O priest, worthy of the priesthood, you neither defiled your sacred teeth nor profaned your stomach, which had room only for reverence and purity, by eating defiled foods” (4 Macc. 7:6).

The question of why God originally designated certain animals as ceremonially unclean is difficult to answer. The Old Testament never explicitly or implicitly tells us. It is inadequate to speculate that God selected a kosher menu as a means of protection for his people from food-borne diseases in an age before refrigeration. It is possible that God originally willed to keep Jews and Gentiles apart in order to unite them in a special way in the messianic age. There was, in fact, a strain of messianic expectation in Judaism that anticipated the declaration of all animals as clean: “All the animals which in this world are declared unclean, God will in the future [that is, in the days of the Messiah] declare clean.”188

Do not call anything impure that God has made clean (10:15). The full implication of the coming of Christ and the inauguration of the new covenant has not yet dawned on Peter. God is lifting the distinction between clean and unclean foods—a boundary that separates Jews from Gentiles.

TEMPLE TO CAESAR AUGUSTUS

The remains of a temple at Caesarea built by Herod in honor of the namesake of the city.

The prophets anticipated a time when God would cleanse anyone who worshiped him. The new covenant promise of Ezekiel anticipated a time when God would cleanse his people from impurity and place his Spirit in them: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezek. 36:25–28). Zechariah envisioned a day when there would be an abundant source of cleansing in Israel: “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zech. 13:1).

This time has now arrived in the person of Jesus. In fact, Jesus declared all foods to be clean during his ministry: “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body. (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods ‘clean.’)” (Mark 7:15–16). Jesus emphasized that it is actually sinful thoughts and tendencies that defile people rather than what they eat: “He went on: ‘What comes out of a man is what makes him “unclean.” For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man “unclean” ’ ” (Mark 7:20–25).

God now impresses the reality of this teaching of Jesus on Peter by means of this vision. Of course, this is a critical time. The Gentiles are now to be incorporated into the new people of God.

The Spirit said to him (10:19). From beginning to end, God has been directly involved in orchestrating this entire set of events. The direct guidance of the Spirit is characteristic of ministry in this new covenant era (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17) and especially of the early Christian mission (see, e.g., Acts 13:2; 16:6).

He is a righteous … man (10:22). Cornelius is not “righteous” in the Pauline sense of justified before God. The expression here (dikaios) means that he is living as an observant Jew would live at that time by giving heed to and obeying the Mosaic law.189

Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests (10:23). Although it was not unlawful for Peter to host Gentile guests in the home, he certainly risks ritual defilement according to Jewish tradition. In general, Jews tried to minimize their contact with Gentiles. This is well illustrated by an exhortation given in the book of Jubilees:

Separate yourself from the gentiles, and do not eat with them, and do not perform deeds like theirs. And do not become associates of theirs. Because their deeds are defiled, and all of their ways are contaminated, and despicable, and abominable (Jub. 22:16).

CAESAREA

Site of the ancient harbor.

The Roman aqueduct.

Peter’s warm invitation to these men may indicate that he is beginning to understand what the Lord is teaching him about ritual impurity. The much greater test for him, however, will be to enter the home of a Gentile (see 10:25).

Brothers from Joppa went along (10:23). Six fellow Jewish believers from Joppa accompany Peter (see 11:12). This is significant because they will witness the Gentiles receiving the Holy Spirit and will be able to corroborate Peter’s story to Jewish believers in Jerusalem.

As Peter entered the house (10:25). In Jewish tradition, entering the home of a Gentile would render one ritually unclean. The Mishnah makes this clear: “The dwelling-places of Gentiles are unclean.”190 The fact that Peter enters the home of this Roman soldier is a big step for Peter and normally would have been an unusual surprise for these Gentiles. Yet God has prepared both Peter and Cornelius for this encounter.

Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence (10:25). In Near Eastern cultures, prostrating oneself before a king or superior is a sign of great respect. The word proskyneō is often used “to designate the custom of prostrating oneself before a person and kissing his feet, the hem of his garment, the ground, etc.”191 But because Peter responds by saying, “Stand up, I am only a man,” Cornelius probably looks on Peter as a divine messenger, an angel. The apostle John also responds to an angel in this fashion (Rev. 19:10; 22:8–9).

It is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him (10:28). After being careful all of their lives not to associate with Gentiles in a way that would render them ritually impure, Peter and his six Jewish companions must face a deep inner turmoil. On the one hand, their consciences are sorely troubled by entering into this house and possibly defiling themselves, yet on the other hand, they have a strong awareness that God himself is directing them to do so.

Jews typically did not enter a Gentile home (even that of a God-fearer) because they did not practice the same level of caution as observant Jews did to ensure that only kosher foods were eaten and that they were prepared in the proper way. There was also always the risk that the home may have had a household idol or other trappings of pagan idolatry. The best way for a Jew to be protected was never to enter a Gentile home.192

God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean (10:28). The vision demonstrates to Peter that the Torah distinction between clean and unclean animals no longer applies. He can now kill and eat an animal that has previously been regarded as ritually impure. As he has reflected on his vision over the past four days, he has recognized that one of the implications of this new divine decree is that people who are previously thought of as ritually defiled because they do not observe Jewish food laws are no longer to be regarded as impure. There is an entirely new situation for Gentiles (and for Jewish attitudes toward Gentiles) made possible by the coming of the Messiah.

Then Peter began to speak (10:34). Verses 34–43 consist of a summary of the message that Peter gives to Cornelius and all those who gathered at his home. In a real sense, the message is the summary of the heart of the preaching of the apostles (what has often been referred to as the kerygma [“the proclamation” of the apostles]). It also serves as a general outline to the contents of the four Gospels.

God does not show favoritism (10:34). According to Peter, God has never shown partiality toward one group of people over another. This is not a new idea in Judaism; it has always been in the Torah: “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes” (Deut. 10:17; see also 2 Chron. 19:7). This was a truth that many Jews had lost sight of, including Peter. “Exclusivism as practiced by many first-century Judean Jews was a development of the intertestamental period that had gone beyond the intent of God.”193

Accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right (10:35). The term “accepts” (dekton, more properly translated “acceptable”) is used frequently in the context of the presentation of sacrifices in the worship of Israel. It was incumbent on worshipers to bring sacrifices that were “acceptable” to the Lord (see Lev. 1:3–4; 19:5). Practicing righteousness in a Jewish context was understood as observing the law, not simply in the sense of being a good person. This passage is clearly not teaching that fearing God and observing the law merits salvation, otherwise Peter’s following sermon about the the work of Jesus and receiving forgiveness of sins through his name would be unnecessary. What Peter is expressing is that fearing God and seeking to follow his ways puts a person in an “acceptable state (of repentance) to hear and receive the message of salvation and release from sins.”194 Cornelius still needs salvation.195

You know the message God sent (10:36). Cornelius and his guests certainly have heard about Jesus and know something about what he has taught. How fascinating it would be to know what level of contact they may have had with Jesus and what kinds of reports they heard about him.

The good news of peace through Jesus Christ (10:36). The gospel is a message of peace with God, made possible not by achieving ritual purity through observing the law, but by the work of Jesus, the Messiah. This is a fulfillment of Isaiah 57:19, where a day is envisioned when it is declared, “Peace, peace, to those far and near.” Peter alluded to this passage in his preaching on the day of Pentecost (see comments on Acts 2:39).

The Old Testament prophets envisioned “peace” (šhālôm) in the messianic age. Peter’s preaching here makes an allusion to the promise of Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ ”

The Old Testament notion of peace goes well beyond a cessation of strife and war. It refers to a holistic sense of wellbeing and fulfillment. This depends on being in a close relationship with God, experiencing his gracious presence, finding strength and encouragement in him, and being free from his judgment and condemnation.196

You know what has happened throughout Judea (10:37). A more literal translation would be, “You know the word (or saying) about what has happened throughout Judea.” The term rhēma (“word”) is used here in a similar way to logos (which appears in 10:36) to refer to the account of the ministry, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. This is a common usage for rhēma, which cannot always be pressed to mean a spoken word.

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth (10:38). Peter’s words here echo and fulfill Isaiah 61:1–2: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” Jesus read these words at the outset of his ministry when he spoke in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:17–21). The “anointing” occurred when the Spirit came on Jesus at his baptism by John and empowered him to carry out his work as God’s deliverer.

Healing all who were under the power of the devil (10:38). The “freedom for the captives” and “release from darkness for the prisoners” referred to in the prophecy of Isaiah 61:1 finds its fulfillment in the exorcisms of Jesus and in his death and resurrection. Both Jews and Gentiles alike have fallen under the sway of the evil one. Not all are demonized and in need of exorcism, but many have been blinded to the revelation of God through the deceiving work of the devil.

Because God was with him (10:38). The source of Jesus’ power is not the devil or Beelzebub (as the Pharisees accuse him), nor is he claiming to be a shaman endowed with magical powers. The one true God is at work in and through Jesus of Nazareth.

We are witnesses of everything he did (10:39). This is the unique testimony that Peter (and the other eleven apostles) can provide. For three years they had watched Jesus, heard him speak on repeated occasions, received personal training and instruction from him, and saw him after he rose from the dead. This is why the teaching of the twelve apostles (see 2:42) is so important to the early church.

CAESAREA

The south end of the hippodrome.

The theater.

The country of the Jews (10:39). This refers to the areas of Galilee and Judea.

By hanging him on a tree (10:39). See comments on 5:30.

By us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead (10:41). The fact that Jesus took food “proves the physical reality of the body of the risen Jesus.”197 Luke describes this in much more detail at the end of his Gospel (see Luke 24:36–43). Jesus did not appear to the disciples as a bodiless spirit-being (as later Docetism and Gnosticism would teach).

God appointed as judge of the living and the dead (10:42). Jesus is not only the redeemer, but he is also the end-time judge (see also 17:31). Such is the right accorded to the “son of man” figure in Daniel’s prophecy: “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him” (Dan. 7:14).

The Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message (10:44). The Spirit comes on all of these Gentiles with visible and unmistakable signs (the speaking in tongues). In this instance, Peter does not lay his hands on them and ask God to impart the Spirit (as he and John had done for the Samaritans; see comments on 8:15). The Spirit comes spontaneously on them, presumably in response to their faith in the message about Jesus that Peter has just explained to them. Many scholars aptly refer to this event as “the Pentecost of the Gentiles.”

The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished (10:45). The Torah-observant Jews recognize the remarkable significance of this event. God is now accepting Gentiles on the same basis that he did the Jews—on the sole basis of believing in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. These Gentile believers will not be required to be circumcised, offer sacrifices, observe the Jewish festivals, or keep Jewish dietary laws as a means of entering or maintaining their position in the new people of God.