But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way - q.d., 'Do as thou art bidden, without gainsaying; his days of hostility to Me are at an end.'
For he is a chosen vessel unto me, х skeuos (G4632) eklogees (G1589)]. This word "vessel" (as Alford observes) is afterward used once and again by the apostle himself in illustrating the sovereignty of God's electing grace (Romans 9:21-23; 2 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Timothy 2:20-21; Zechariah 3:2).
To bear my name before the Gentiles. This great characteristic of his ministry, as distinguished from that of Peter, is here appropriately placed first; and it had that place in his own estimation ever afterward (Galatians 2:7-8).
And kings (as Herod Agrippa and Nero), and the children of Israel - to whom he invariably presented the Gospel first.