CRITICAL REMARKS
Acts 9:36. Joppa, or Japho (Jonah 1:3), in Assyrian inscriptions Ja-ap-pu; at the present day, Jaffa or Jâfa, meaning “the beautiful,” or, according to another derivation, “the height.” A seaport of great antiquity, twelve miles north-west of Lydda, originally allotted to Dan (Joshua 19:46). Here was landed the timber for the temple in Solomon’s time (2 Chronicles 2:16), and in Ezra’s (Acts 3:7). Here Jonah embarked to go to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3), and here Peter received the messengers of Cornelius (Acts 10:5). Tabitha’s tomb is still shown. It is popularly identified with the Sebîl of Abû Nabût, who was governor of Joppa at the commencement of the present century. Close to it was discovered, by M.C. Clermont Ganneau, in 1874, the ancient cemetery of Jaffa, containing many rock-cut tombs, the circle of earth including them being known as Ard Dabitha, the land of Dabitha (Picturesque Palestine, iii., 143). Herr Schick thinks Tabitha was most likely buried in this cemetery (Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, January 1894, p. 14). Tabitha.—A Chaldee term signifying “Gazelle.” Its Greek equivalent, Dorcas, occurs in Xen., Anab., I. Act. 9:2. Whether this amiable lady was a widow or a virgin does not appear from the context. The exact site of her house is now lost (Herr Schick, as above, p. 14).
Acts 9:43. Simon a tanner.—“The Latin monastery in Joppa is said to occupy the site of Simon’s house, but a little Mohammedan mosque or sanctuary by the seaside claims to be the house itself” (Picturesque Palestine, iii., 142). “The house itself is a comparatively modern building, with no pretensions to interest or antiquity.” “It is close on the seashore, the waves beating against the low wall of its courtyard” (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 274). Herr Schick thinks the modern building may stand not far from the real site (Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, January 1894, p. 14). Peter, by taking up his abode with a brother Christian who was a tanner—the trade being commonly regarded as unclean—took a long step towards ceremonial freedom. The Tübingen critics find one proof for their tendency theory in the name Simon, which was borne both by the apostle and the tanner, as if such a coincidence could not be historical, and another in the correspondence between the story of Dorcas, on the one hand, and those of Lydia (Acts 16:15) and Eutychus (Acts 20:9-12), on the other, for these two require to be combined to constitute an exact Pauline parallel to the Petrine episode.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 9:36-43
Among the Disciples at Joppa; or, the Raising of Dorcas
I. Dorcas living.—
1. Her name was beautiful. Dorcas, in Chaldee Tabitha, signifying “Gazelle.” The gazelle, or antelope of Judah, celebrated for its slender and agreeable form, its graceful motions, its fiery and beautiful eyes, was not infrequently employed by Hebrews and other Orientals as a type of female loveliness. To Dorcas the name “Gazelle” may have been originally ascribed on account of her personal attractions, though more probably because of the grace and beauty of her character; and pre-eminently beautiful it is when the lovely name is but an index to the lovely soul within, and the beauty of the person a reflection of that beauty of holiness in which the spirit should aspire continually to be arrayed.
2. Her character was beautiful.
“What is beauty? Not the show
Of shapely limbs and features. No;
These are but flowers
That have their dated hours
To breathe their momentary sweets and go.
’Tis the stainless soul within
That outshines the fairest skin.”
Crown the female figure with every conceivable excellence, till in perfection of external loveliness it may be said of her whose that figure is, as Milton said of Eve—
“Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye;
In every gesture dignity and love”;
or as Shakespeare wrote of one of his heroines:—
“She looks as clear
As morning roses newly washed with dew;”
yet, devoid of the inner principle of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and of the unseen graces that cluster round and, in fact, spring from that, she is destitute of the one thing needful to consummate her perfections and constitute her brightest lustre in the sight of God; while with these, on the other hand, she possesses what lends an additional charm to all her other loveliness. So was it with the holy women of old time (1 Peter 3:5-6) and with Dorcas of Joppa, who was “a disciple” possessed of that faith which is the root and vital sap of all other Christian virtues and graces.
3. Her life was beautiful. As nearly as possible Dorcas realised the primitive idea of feminine loveliness as sketched by both Peter (Ephesians 3:1-4) and Paul (1 Timothy 2:9-10). She was “full of good works and alms deeds which she did.” Her Christian activity displayed itself specially in the making of coats and garments for poor widows in connection with the Church. Probably purchasing the material with her own savings, she wove it with her own labour, and fashioned it into articles of apparel with her own hands; so that the coats and garments she distributed, besides being valuable gifts of her charity, were substantial tokens of her industry as well. And here arises a hint of what is pre-eminently woman’s sphere within the Christian Church, which is hardly that of preaching or ruling, but of teaching the young, ministering to the sick, and caring for the poor.
II. Dorcas dying.—
1. Notwithstanding her piety, Dorcas died. Her beautiful name, lovely character, and useful life proved unable to ward off the attack of the last enemy. Having fallen sick, though Scripture maintains a holy reticence concerning the nature of her ailment, she passed from this mortal scene, most likely leaving behind her no death-bed testimony, but only the memory of her saintly character and life to suggest whither she had gone.
2. In consequence of her piety Dorcas was much lamented. Truth in the familiar phrase that one is never missed and one’s worth never appreciated till one dies. Whether Dorcas’s character and philanthropic labour were known beyond or even throughout the little circle of the Christian community in Joppa before her death cannot be told; but hardly had the vital spark become extinct within her frame than the whole truth concerning her was disclosed. First came the Church members, her fellow-disciples, to mourn for her death, and condole with her bereaved relatives, so proving that human hearts may be bound together by other ties than those of mere earthly relationship; and then arrived the weeping widows, the recipients of her benevolence, who exhibited the coats and garments she had made as a testimony at once to the piety of the deceased and to the gratitude of the living.
III. Dorcas rising.—
1. Unexpected on the part of the disciples. Difficult to think these had any other idea in sending for Peter than simply to receive from him comfort and consolation. As yet the apostles had never restored a dead body to life. Then the attentions bestowed upon the corpse showed it was being prepared for burial. Certainly the early Christians believed in the possibility of a resurrection; but ground scarcely exists for supposing the friends of Dorcas expected her revival. “Perhaps something whispered in the troubled hearts of the disciples, ‘If Peter had been here our sister would not have died’ … but the surpassing consolation with which the Lord intended presently to fill them went beyond their prayers and thoughts” (Besser).
2. Effected by the apostle.
(1) In solitude. Having entered the death-chamber, Peter put out all whom he found there; in this following the example of Christ in the house of Jairus (Luke 8:41).
(2) By means of prayer. Christ raised the daughter of Jairus by His own power; Peter invoked Christ’s aid.
(3) With appropriate actions. With a word of command—“Tabitha, arise!” (compare Luke 7:14; Luke 8:54; John 11:43). With a helping hand: “He gave her his hand and lifted her up.”
3. Authenticated in the eyes of the Church. When she had been recalled to life Peter presented her to the saints and widows waiting without; to those most anxious to believe in her restoration, it may be said, but also to those best qualified to attest its reality and least likely to be imposed upon—to those who had seen her die, washed her corpse, and prepared it for the tomb; and these having seen her, distinctly realised she was alive.
4. Followed by the happiest results in the general community. The miracle became “known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.”
Lessons.—
1. The great poor law of the Christian Church. The strong should help the weak (Romans 16).
2. The proper sphere of work for woman. Ministries of love.
3. The value of a good name. Better than great riches (Proverbs 22:1).
4. The mutual sympathy which ought to bind together the various members of the Church (Galatians 1:2).
5. Tabitha’s resurrection a picture of the resurrection of the saints.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Acts 9:36. Joppa, a City of—
I. High antiquity.—Reported by ancient geographers to have been built before the Flood. It certainly existed in the days of the conquest of Canaan under Joshua (Joshua 19:46).
II. Historical renown.—
1. In pre-Christian times.
(1) Solomon’s ships sailed from its harbour to go to Tarshish (1 Kings 10:22).
(2) Hiram’s timber floats landed at its quay (2 Chronicles 2:16).
(3) Ezra’s cedar trees received at its port (Acts 3:7).
(4) Jonah embarked at its wharf for Tarshish (Jonah 1:3).
2. In apostolic times.
(1) The scene of Peter’s miracle in raising Dorcas.
(2) The place of Peter’s vision concerning Cornelius (Acts 10:1). In modern times.
(1) “The landing-place of pilgrims going to Jerusalem for more than a thousand years—from Arculfin the seventh century to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in the nineteenth” (J. L. Porter).
(2) The object of many sieges, from the days of Pompey (B.C. 63) to those of Napoleon I.
III. Natural beauty.—“It is,” writes a distinguished traveller, “beautifully situated on a little rounded hill, dipping on the west side into the waves of the Mediterranean, and on the land side encompassed by orchards of orange, lemon, apricot, and other trees, which for luxuriance and beauty are not surpassed in the world.”
Full of Good Works. Good works—
I. Flow from a right principle—the love of God (John 14:15-23; Romans 13:10; 1 John 5:3).
II. Proceed according to a right rule—the word of God, the only rule of faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
III. Tend towards a right end—the glory of God (Romans 14:7-8; Colossians 3:17-23).
IV. Should be constantly maintained (Titus 3:8).
V. Will certainly be rewarded (Romans 2:7).
The Variety of Gifts bestowed upon the Christian Church. Four characters, exceedingly diverse.
I. Paul, a man singularly gifted, morally and intellectually, with qualities more brilliant than almost ever fell to the lot of man.
II. Peter, full of love, a champion of the truth.
III. Ananias, one of those disciples of the inward life whose vocation is sympathy, and who by a single word, “Brother,” restore light to those that sit in darkness and loneliness.
IV. Dorcas, in a humbler, but not less true sphere of Divine goodness, clothing the poor with her own hands, practically loving and benevolent.—Robertson, of Brighton.
Acts 9:36-42. Dorcas and Peter.
I. The character of Dorcas illustrates the amiableness of female piety.
II. The conduct of the widows supplies a beautiful instance of gratitude.
III. The behaviour of Peter exemplifies that promptitude in doing good which ought to characterise Christians.