Acts 10:1

1 In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment.

Acts 10:1 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 10:1

There was a certain man in Caesarea
This was the Caesarea formerly called Strato's tower, not Caesarea Philippi; for the former, and not the latter, lay near Joppa:

called Cornelius;
which was a Roman name, and he himself was a Roman or an Italian:

a centurion of the band called the Italian band;
which consisted of soldiers collected out of Italy, from whence the band took its name, in which Cornelius was a centurion, having a hundred men under him, as the name of his office signifies.

Acts 10:1 In-Context

1 In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was a captain of the Italian Regiment.

2 He was a devout, God-fearing man, as was everyone in his household. He gave generously to the poor and prayed regularly to God.

3 One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said.

4 Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel. And the angel replied, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have been received by God as an offering!

5 Now send some men to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.

Footnotes

• [a]. Greek a centurion; similarly in 10:22 .