Election of a Twelfth Apostle.In those days (cf. Mark 1:9; a vague expression) Peter comes forward as leader. 1 Corinthians 15:6 * speaks of 500 brethren at once. The first to whom the risen Lord appeared was naturally their leader; though Ac. does not mention this, Lk. does (Luke 24:24-34). We have here the first example in Ac. of the application of OT passages to Christian things. Two passages from Ps. are applied to Judas, whose place is now to be filled. It is assumed that there is a fixed number of apostles, and that the number is to be kept up. Judas (Acts 1:17) was one of the twelve; Psalms 69:25 proves that there is a vacancy in their number, and Psalms 109:8 that the vacancy must be filled. It is necessary that these prophecies should be fulfilled. The account of Judas-' death differs from that in Matthew 27:5-7 *. There the high priests buy the field, or claypit, with Judas-' money after his death: here he buys a field himself and dies the death of Antiochus Epiphanes (2Ma_9:7 ff.). The name Aceldama is probably historical; the story explains the name which existed already. The election of a successor is to be by lot; the Lord is to decide. The qualifications of suitable candidates are first set forth. They must have been familiar with the ministry of Jesus, which began with John the Baptist (Mark 1:1-4; Luke 3:2), and they must have been present in these last days up to the Ascension. An apostle is elected by the Church (2 Corinthians 3:1) as well as by God; this the name, which means sent or messenger, implies. It is not the Eleven who put the candidates forward, but the whole meeting, addressed by Peter and invited to act with him. The Lord who knows the heart is invoked; He must know best which of the two is the more sincere (Jeremiah 17:10) and will make the better apostle. The office is one of ministry; not of tables only, but of the Word (Acts 6:2-4). Neither candidate is heard of afterwards. Acts 1:26 identifies the apostles with the Twelve. In 1 Corinthians 15 the Twelve are spoken of first, then the apostles as a larger body. Apostles would come into existence when there were several communities of Christians to be kept in touch with each other; the use of the word in the Gospels, in which Luke goes much the furthest, is an anachronism (p. 646, Harnack, Mission and Expansion 2, i. 319 ff.).
Acts 1:15. Cf. Mishna (Sanh. Acts 1:6), which says a town must have 120 inhabitants to have a council, and the officers must be one-tenth of the whole.