Through mighty signs and wonders
Or "in", or "through the power of signs and wonders", as the
Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions render the words.
These carrying along with them evidence and conviction of the
truth of what was delivered, wrought wonderfully and powerfully
on the minds of the Gentiles to embrace the Gospel, and submit to
the ordinances of it; though all would have been insufficient,
had it not been for what follows,
by the power of the Spirit of God:
the Alexandrian copy and one of Stephens's read, "by the power of
the Holy Spirit", and so does the Vulgate Latin version; meaning,
either that the mighty signs and wonders in healing the sick,
giving sight to the blind, raising the dead were performed not by
the efficacy and working of Satan, as the signs and lying wonders
of antichristian men, but by the Spirit of God, by whom Christ
and all his apostles wrought the miracles they did; or that the
ministration of the word in which the apostle laboured, was by
the power of the Spirit of God; it was he that imparted all
spiritual gifts to him, qualifying him for this service; it was
he that assisted him in it, and enabled him to go through it; it
was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that he performed
it; and that not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth: or else that the obedience of the
Gentiles to the faith of Christ, through the preaching of the
Gospel, and the wonderful works that attended it as means, were
purely owing to the power of the Spirit of God, as the efficient
cause; it was not by might, or power of the preacher; nor merely
by the power of signs and wonders; but by the powerful and
efficacious grace of the Spirit of God, who took away the stony,
stubborn, and disobedient heart, and gave them an heart of flesh,
a tender, flexible, and obedient one; and caused them to walk in
and observe the commandments and ordinances of the Lord:
so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I
have fully
preached the Gospel of Christ;
that which Christ, as God, is the author of; as man, was a
preacher and minister of; and, as Mediator, is the subject matter
of: this the apostle "preached fully" and completely, every part
and branch of it, kept back nothing of it, but faithfully
declared the whole; and so fulfilled it, as the word may be
rendered, and his ministry; or he filled the Gospel, the net of
the Gospel, which he spread in every place; or rather he diffused
the knowledge of it everywhere; he filled all places with it
wherever he came, even "from Jerusalem" round about unto
Illyricum: not that he began to preach at Jerusalem, but at
Damascus; from whence he went to Arabia, and after that to
Jerusalem; but inasmuch as he was of Jerusalem, and had preached
there, from whence the Gospel originally came, and this was the
boundary of his ministry one way, he makes mention of it; as
Illyricum was the boundary of it another way, which was on the
extreme part of Macedonia: it is now called Sclavonia, and is an
European nation; part of it is Dalmatia, mentioned ( 2 Timothy
4:10 ) . Apollonia was in it, according to Mela F26, where
the apostle is said to pass through, ( Acts 17:1 ) , it has on
the south the gulf of Venice, on the north the Danube, on the
west Germany, and on the east Thracia and Macedonia: according to
Ptolomy {a}, Illyris, or Illyricum, was bounded on the north with
upper and lower Pannonia, now called Hungary and Austria; on the
east with upper Mysia, now Servia; and on the south with part of
Macedonia; it lies over against Italy, the Adriatic sea being
between them; its length, from the river Drinus to Arsa, is
reckoned about 480 miles, and its breadth, from the mountains of
Croatia to the sea, is computed to be about 120: it is by some
divided into Slavonia, Dalmatia, and Albania; Slavonia is the
western part, Albania the eastern, and Dalmatia between them;
according to others, it includes Slavonia, Croatia, Bosnia, and
Dalmatia; and had its name of Illyricum, from Illyrius, the son
of Cadmus; or as others, from Illyrius, the son of Celta: here
the Gospel was preached by the Apostle Paul, and no doubt with
success; and churches were planted here, and which remained for
several ages: in the "second" century there was a church in
Illyricum, and Eleutherius was bishop, who is said to be a famous
teacher; he was born at Rome, and his mother Anthia is reported
to be converted by the Apostle Paul; in the same age lived one
Quirinus, first a tribune, and then a bishop of Illyricum, who
became a martyr under Trajan: in the "third" century there were
churches in Illyricum, though devastations were made in it by the
Goths; in the "fourth" century, frequent mention is made of the
churches in Illyricum; and the bishops convened at Rome under
Damascus in the times of Constantius wrote with great respect to
the brethren in Illyricum; in Siscia, a city in this country,
Quirinus a bishop suffered martyrdom; here a synod met against
the Arians, and yet many in this country were infected with that
heresy, by Valens and Ursatius; in this age Hilary, of Poictiers
in France, spread the Gospel in this country; and he and Eusebius
of Vercelli, in Piedmont, visited the churches, and corrected
what was amiss: in the "fifth" century there was a church in
Illyricum, and in Salo, a city of Dalmatia, Glycerius was bishop:
in the "sixth" century there were also churches here, as appears
from the letter of Symmachus to the bishops of them, and to their
people; and in this age also Gregory wrote to all the bishops in
Illyricum, to receive such bishops as were banished: in the
"eighth" century, the bishops of Illyricum were in the Nycene
synod, and Boniface gathered a church in Slavonia {b}; thus far
Christianity may be traced in this country: hither the apostle
went, not in a direct line, but round about, and took many
countries, cities, and towns in his way, as the history of his
journeys and travels in the Acts of the Apostles shows, and as he
here suggests.