Acts 11:19 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

So true hath it been from the beginning of the gospel, that sanguis martyrum est semen eccesiae. St. Stephen's death, and the persecution upon it, was a great means of disseminating the gospel. Thus all things work for good. Phenice; the country about Tyre. Cyprus; an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Antioch; the metropolis of Syria. This explains what was briefly said, Acts 8:4, and showed what places the disciples were scattered into, and preached in. They preached to the Jews only, because they were not yet persuaded of the calling of the Gentiles; God suffering them to be enlightened by degrees.

Acts 11:19

19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.