Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on Acts 1:20
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
For it is written in the book of Psalms, etc.] In (<196925>Psalm 69:25). These are the words of Peter, citing the Scripture he had said must be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost, by David, had spoke concerning Judas: let his habitation be desolate. The Arabic and Ethiopic versions render it, “his city”; meaning, perhaps, the city of Jerusalem; and which afterwards did become desolate, and was utterly destroyed: and let no man dwell therein; in his habitation. The psalm, out of which these words are cited, is a psalm concerning the Messiah, and there are many passages cited out of it in the New Testament, and applied to him, or referred unto; (see <430217>John 2:17 15:25 19:28 <451503>Romans 15:3) compared with (<196904>Psalm 69:4,9,21) and what the psalmist says of the enemies of the Messiah in general, is applied by the apostle to Judas in particular. In the Hebrew text, in (<196925>Psalm 69:25) the words are in the plural number, “let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents”; and refer to all the enemies of Christ, the chief priests, elders of the people, Scribes and Pharisees, who covenanted with Judas to give him so much money to betray Christ into their hands; and who delivered him to the Roman governor, by whom, at their instigation, he was crucified; and particularly may well be thought to include Judas, who betrayed him to them; and therefore are very fitly interpreted of him: though not to be understood to the exclusion of the others, whose house was to be left desolate, and was left desolate, as our Lord predicted, (<402338>Matthew 23:38). The first word in the Hebrew text rendered “habitation”, signifies a very magnificent dwelling; it is sometimes translated a “castle”, (<012516>Genesis 25:16, <043110> Numbers 31:10, <130654>1 Chronicles 6:54) and sometimes a “palace”, Cant. 8:9, (<262504>Ezekiel 25:4) and it is interpreted by ˆwmra, “a palace”, here, by several Jewish writers f42; and so may intend the dwelling places of the richer sort of Christ’s enemies, as the palaces of the high priest, and of the prince, or president of the sanhedrim, and the stately houses of the members of it, of the chief priests and elders of the people, and of the Scribes and Pharisees; all which became desolate at the destruction of Jerusalem: the other word, rendered “tents”, may design the cottages of the meaner sort of people, who, with united voices, cried aloud for the crucifixion of Christ; and which also shared the same fate when Jerusalem was destroyed: now inasmuch as Judas was of the meaner sort, the apostle here makes use of a word which signifies but a poor and mean habitation, though it is sometimes used of grander ones, and which seems to answer to the latter; for as there are two words in the original text expressive of habitation, he might choose which he would, and did choose that which was most pertinent in the application of the passage to Judas. However, a Jew has no reason to find fault with this version, since the Targum renders both words by “habitation”, thus; let their habitation be desolate, and in their habitations let no one dwell: where Judas’s habitation was is not certain; but that he might have one as well as the Apostle John, is not at all improbable, and from hence seems evident: and his bishopric let another take; which passage stands in (<19A908>Psalm 109:8) and is fitly applied to Judas, and was verified in him, who not only died a violent and infamous death, by which he was in conseq…
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