Acts 10:3

3 One afternoon about three o'clock, Cornelius clearly saw a vision. An angel of God came to him and said, "Cornelius!"

Acts 10:3 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 10:3

He saw in a vision evidently
He was not in a dream, or in a trance, but he was thoroughly awake, and his eyes open, and was himself; it was not in the night, but in clear day:

about the ninth hour of the day;
or three o'clock in the afternoon, which was the hour of prayer, ( Acts 3:1 ) in which exercise he was now engaged, ( Acts 10:30 ) at this time he saw

an angel of God coming to him;
into the room where he was at prayer:

and saying unto him, Cornelius;
he called him by his name, to let him know that he knew him, as angels are very knowing spirits; and to express his affection and friendship to him, and that he was a messenger, not of bad, but of good news to him; as well as to engage his attention to him; for he might be so intent at his devotion, that had he not called him by name, he would not have minded him.

Acts 10:3 In-Context

1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, an officer in the Italian group of the Roman army.

2 Cornelius was a religious man. He and all the other people who lived in his house worshiped the true God. He gave much of his money to the poor and prayed to God often.

3 One afternoon about three o'clock, Cornelius clearly saw a vision. An angel of God came to him and said, "Cornelius!"

4 Cornelius stared at the angel. He became afraid and said, "What do you want, Lord?" The angel said, "God has heard your prayers. He has seen that you give to the poor, and he remembers you.

5 Send some men now to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is also called Peter.