Acts 14:10

Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) Stand upright on thy feet.—What may be called the modus operandi of the miracle reminds us of that of the paralytic in Matthew 9:6, and the cripple at Bethesda in John 5:11, and the lame man in Acts 3:6. The command, which would have seemed a mockery to one who did not rise beyond the limits of experience, is obeyed by the will that had been inspired by the new power of faith. The natural inference from the special fact recorded in Acts 14:11, is that the command was given in Greek, and therefore that St. Paul had taught in that language.

And he leaped and walked.—The two verbs differ in their tense: he leaped, as with a single bound, and then continued walking. (Comp. Note on Acts 3:8.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:8-18 All things are possible to those that believe. When we have faith, that most precious gift of God, we shall be delivered from the spiritual helplessness in which we were born, and from the dominion of sinful habits since formed; we shall be made able to stand upright and walk cheerfully in the ways of the Lord. When Christ, the Son of God, appeared in the likeness of men, and did many miracles, men were so far from doing sacrifice to him, that they made him a sacrifice to their pride and malice; but Paul and Barnabas, upon their working one miracle, were treated as gods. The same power of the god of this world, which closes the carnal mind against truth, makes errors and mistakes find easy admission. We do not learn that they rent their clothes when the people spake of stoning them; but when they spake of worshipping them; they could not bear it, being more concerned for God's honour than their own. God's truth needs not the services of man's falsehood. The servants of God might easily obtain undue honours if they would wink at men's errors and vices; but they must dread and detest such respect more than any reproach. When the apostles preached to the Jews, who hated idolatry, they had only to preach the grace of God in Christ; but when they had to do with the Gentiles, they must set right their mistakes in natural religion. Compare their conduct and declaration with the false opinions of those who think the worship of a God, under any name, or in any manner, is equally acceptable to the Lord Almighty. The most powerful arguments, the most earnest and affectionate addresses, even with miracles, are scarcely enough to keep men from absurdities and abominations; much less can they, without special grace, turn the hearts of sinners to God and to holiness.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Said with a loud voice - See the notes on John 11:43.

And he leaped - See the notes on Acts 3:8. Compare Isaiah 35:6.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. who steadfastly beholding him—as he did Elymas the sorcerer when about to work a miracle on him.

and perceiving that he had faith to be healed—Paul may have been led by the sight of this cripple to dwell on the Saviour's miracles of healing, and His present power; and perceiving from the eagerness with which the patient drank in his words, that he was prepared to put his own case into the Redeemer's hands, the Spirit of the glorified Physician came all upon Paul, and "with a loud voice" he bade him "stand upright upon his feet." The effect was instantaneous—he sprang to his feet "and walked."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

As Acts 3:6,8, to shew that he was perfectly recovered of this lameness; as all miraculous cures (being the work of God) were perfect.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Said with a loud voice,.... Not only that the man, but that all might hear and attend to the miracle about to be wrought:

stand upright on thy feet; in five of Beza's manuscripts, and in other copies, and in the Complutensian edition, and in the Syriac version, this clause is introduced with these words, "I say unto thee, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ"; which is much such a form that Peter used, Acts 3:6 whereby the virtue of the miracle is ascribed to Christ, and not assumed by the apostle:

and he leaped and walked; he sprung up directly from his seat, and leaped about for joy, and walked as well as any other man could.

Geneva Study Bible

Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 14:10. ἀνάσ.… ὀρθός: verb, as elsewhere, Acts 9:34; Acts 9:40, but only here with ἐπὶ τοὺς π., hitherto they had been too weak to support him, ὀρθός signifying that he was entirely whole, cf. reading in D. On ὀρθός see Hobart, p. 46: it was frequently used by medical writers, so by Hippocrates and Galen, with ἵστημι; only elsewhere in N.T. in a figurative sense and in a quotation, Hebrews 11:13. The collocation is also found in classical Greek, and cf. 1Es 9:46 (see also Hatch and Redpath), but cf. also ἀνορθόω, Luke 13:13, and the combination in Galen of ὀρθόω and τὸ ἀδύνατον κῶλον.—ἥλλετο καὶ περιεπ., see also reading in D. If we read ἥλατο, note aorist and imperfect, he sprang up with a single bound, whilst the walking is a continuous action, or inceptive: “he began to walk”.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. said with a loud voice] i.e. raising his tone above that in which he was speaking to the rest of the people.

Stand upright on thy feet] It has been noticed in chap. 3 how different is the narration of this miracle from that wrought by St Peter at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. The two were of exactly the same character, and had the historian been giving his own words only and aiming at producing a harmony in his picture between the words and works of St Paul and St Peter, no finer opportunity could have been found than by making the narratives in these two places as much as possible alike. A careful perusal leaves the impression that the latter may have been written from personal observation (see below on Acts 14:22) or from the information of St Paul, but that the former was drawn from an entirely different source, and that the historian has faithfully preserved the distinct character of the two sources from which he derived his information.

And he leaped and walked] The oldest MSS. give these verbs in different tenses. The first is aorist, as expressing one act, the upward spring, which shewed once for all that the cure was wrought; the second is imperfect, and indicates that the act of walking was continued, that he henceforth was able to exercise his new power.

Bengel's Gnomen

Acts 14:10. Ἀνάστηθι, stand upright) Paul does not expressly appeal to the name of Jesus, inasmuch as it had been mentioned a little before in his discourse.—[καὶ περιεπάτει, and he walked) even though he had never before tried to do so.—V. g.]

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - Leaped up for leaped. A.V. Acts 14:10

Vincent's Word Studies

Upright (ὀρθός)

Only here and Hebrews 12:13. Compare made straight, Luke 13:13, and see note there.

Leaped (ἥλατο)

Better, as Rev., leaped up. Note the aorist tense, indicating a single act, while the imperfect, walked, denotes continuous action.