Acts 11:4

Began (arxameno). Not pleonastic here, but graphically showing how Peter began at the beginning and gave the full story of God's dealings with him in Joppa and Caesarea. Expounded (exetiqeto). Imperfect middle of ektiqhmi, to set forth, old verb, but in the N.T. only in Acts ( Luke 7:21 ; Luke 11:4 ; Luke 18:26 ; Luke 28:23 ), a deliberate and detailed narrative "in order" (kaqexh). Old word for in succession. In the N.T. only in Luke 1:2 ; Luke 8:1 ; Acts 3:24 ; Acts 11:14 ; Acts 18:23 . Luke evidently considered this defence of Peter important and he preserves the marks of authenticity. It came originally from Peter himself (verses Acts 5 6 15 16 ). "The case of Cornelius was a test case of primary importance" (Page), "the first great difficulty of the early Church." Part of the story Luke gives three times ( Acts 10:3-6 Acts 10:30-32 ; Acts 11:13 ). See the discussion chapter 10 for details given here.