Acts Chapter 3 verse 2 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - That was lame for lame, A.V.; door for gate, A.V. Door. If any distinction is intended between the θύρα here and the πύλη of ver. 10 (which is not certain, as θύρα is often used for a gate), we must understand θύρα of the double doors of the gate described by Josephus. Perhaps the lame man leant against one of the open doors. Which is called Beautiful. It is not certain what gate this was. In the 'Dictionary of the Bible' it is described as "the great eastern gate leading from the court of the women to the upper court," following apparently Josephus, 'De Bell. Jud.,' 5. 5:3. But it is impossible to reconcile Josephus's two accounts - that in the 'Bell. Jud.,' 5:05. and that in 'Ant. Jud.,' 15. 11. In the former he says distinctly that there were ten gates - four on the north, four on the south, and two on the east. In the latter he says there were three gates on the north, three on the south, and one on the east. In the former he says that fifteen steps led up from the women's enclosure to the great gate, exactly opposite the gate of the temple itself (ἄντικρυ τῆς τοῦ ναοῦ πυλῆς); in the latter he says very distinctly that women were allowed to enter through the great gate on the east. With such discrepancies in the description of the only eye-witness whose evidence has been preserved, it is impossible to speak with certainly. But it seems probable that there were two gates on the east - one the beautiful and costly gate of Corinthian brass, elaborately described by Josephus, through which the women did pass; the other the greater gate, just opposite to and above the beautiful gate (ἡ ὑπὲρ τὴν Κορινθίαν), leading from the court of the women to the inner court; and that Josephus has confounded one with the other in his descriptions. Anyhow, the beautiful gate was probably on the east. Its correct name is said to be the gate of Nicanor. The temple. It must be remembered that the whole platform, including the porches, and the courts of the Gentiles and of the women, and the outer court and the court of the priests, was called τὸ ἱερόν; the actual house was called ὁ ναός; that part of the ἱερόν to which only Israelites were admitted, was called τὸ ἅγιον. Josephus also divides the precincts into the first, second, and third ἱερόν. The description of this lame man laid at the gate of the temple to ask alms is very similar to that in Luke 16:20 of Lazarus laid at the rich man's gate; only that the word for laid is in St. Luke ἐπέβλητο, and here is ἐτίθουν.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) A certain man lame from his mother's womb.--The careful record of the duration of his suffering is more or less characteristic of St. Luke (Luke 9:33; Luke 14:8). The minuteness in this narrative suggests the thought that St. Luke's informant may have been the cripple himself.Was carried.--Better, was being carried.The gate of the temple which is called Beautiful.--Literally, door, though "gate" is used in Acts 3:10. No gate of this name is mentioned by other writers, but it was probably identical either (1) with the gate of Nicanor (so called, according to one tradition, because the hand of the great enemy of Judah had been nailed to it as a trophy), which was the main eastern entrance of the inner court (Stanley's Jewish Church, iii. p. 323); or (2) the Susa gate, also on the eastern side, and named in memory of the old historical connection between Judah and Persia, leading into the outer court of the women. The latter was of fine Corinthian brass, so massive that twenty men were required to open or shut it (Jos. Wars, v. 5, ? 3).To ask alms of them that entered into the temple.--The approaches of the Temple, like those of modern mosques, were commonly thronged with the blind, lame, and other mendicants. (Comp. John 9:8.) The practice was common at Constantinople in the time of Chrysostom, and has prevailed largely throughout Christendom. . . .