Acts 8:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

There

The church

And they

Samaria

Acts 8:14

Acts 1:8

John 4:39

Except

Acts 5:18

Hebrews 11:27

Bible References

There

But when the Jewish officials heard this, they were deeply convicted in their hearts and determined to kill the apostles.

Now when the Council members heard these things they were enraged and ground their teeth at him.

A disciple is doing well if he can be [as good] as his teacher, and the slave [as good] as his master. If they have called the master of the house [i.e., Jesus] Beelzebub [i.e., the chief of evil spirits. See Mark 3:22], how much more [likely] will they call members of his household [i.e., the disciples] the same thing!

But the rest of them grabbed his servants, physically abused them and [finally] killed them.

Therefore look, I am sending to you prophets, wise men and scholarly teachers. You will murder and crucify some of them; you will whip some of them in your synagogues and pursue them from town to town.

Therefore, the wisdom of God said, [Note: Is this a reference to Jesus? See I Cor. 1:30 and Matt. 23:34-36], 'I will send prophets and apostles to them [i.e., the Jewish people] and they will kill and persecute some of them,

Remember what I said to you, 'A slave is not greater [in importance] than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will [also] persecute you, too; if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

The Jewish authorities will expel you from their synagogues. In fact, the time will come when whoever kills you will think he is doing a service to God.

The church

praising God and enjoying favor with all the people [of the area]. And every day the Lord added to their number [i.e., to the church] those who were being saved [i.e., upon their obedience to the Gospel].

This is the man who was with our forefathers and with the assembly [of Hebrews] in the wilderness [after] the angel had spoken to him at Mt. Sinai. He [is the one] who received the living messages [from God at Mt. Sinai] and gave them to us.

And the news about [what was being done by] these people reached the church in Jerusalem, so that they sent Barnabas to Antioch [in Syria].

Now in the church at Antioch there were [these] prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon, called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch [i.e., governor of Galilee], and Saul.

And they

Now the disciples, who had become scattered all over, went everywhere preaching the message [of God].

Those who were scattered everywhere as a result of the persecution [being waged against the church] because of Stephen's [death], traveled as far away as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, declaring the message to Jews only.

"You people are [like] salt on the earth. But if salt loses its flavoring ability, how will it ever get it back again? From then on it would be good for nothing except to be thrown out onto the roadway and walked on by people. [Note: This was mined salt which, when losing its "saltiness" due to exposure to the sun or rain, was simply disposed of by being dumped onto the roadway where people walked].

Now I want you to know, brothers, that the things that happened to me have resulted in the advancement [of the influence] of the Gospel rather [than hindering it],

Samaria

Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had responded to the message of God, they sent Peter and John to them.

But, you apostles will receive power when the Holy Spirit descends on you and [then] you will become My witnesses [i.e., to tell what you know] in Jerusalem, in [the countries of] Judea and Samaria, and [even] to the distant regions of the earth."

Then many Samaritans from Sychar believed in Jesus because of the testimony of the woman, who said, "He told me everything that I ever did."

Except

and arrested the apostles and put them in jail.

By [having] faith, he left Egypt, not being afraid of the king's anger, for he endured [all the rigors of wandering in the desert] because he could see the invisible God.