"Now there was in Joppa a disciple named
Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of
charity. In
those days she became ill and died, and when they had washed her, they laid her
in an upper room. Since
Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men
to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter rose and went
with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows
stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made
while she was with them. But
Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body
he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she
sat up. And
he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he
presented her alive. And
it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. And he stayed in Joppa
for many days with one Simon, a tanner." (Acts 9:36-43).[1]
Observation
Author
The author of Acts is Luke, the same person who
wrote the gospel of Luke. While not without some controversy, his authorship of
these two books has been widely accepted since the early days of the church.[2]
One example of internal evidence that supports Luke’s writing both books is
found in Acts 1:1, where he refers to his gospel: “In the first book, O
Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” In
addition, the “we” sections of Acts indicate that Luke was at times a traveling
companion of the apostle Paul. In these “we” sections (Acts 16:10-17,
20:5-21:18, and 27:1-28:16) the narrative changes from the third person plural
to the first person plural, demonstrating that the author was at times directly
involved with Paul’s missionary journeys.[3]
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul further identifies Luke as a physician:
“Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas” (Col. 4:14).
Date
Written
The approximate date for Luke’s writing the Book of
Acts is A.D. 61-62. This date can be arrived at through backward reasoning,
since Luke did not mention the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 or the
beginning of Nero’s persecutions in A.D. 64. Yet Luke does record Paul’s first
imprisonment in Rome, which began in A.D. 60. It is therefore likely that Luke
wrote Acts in A.D. 61-62, during the time of Paul’s two-year incarceration in Rome.[4]
Primary
Characters
The most prominent human characters in this passage
are Peter and Tabitha. The apostle Peter is one of the main leaders of the
early church, having preached a sermon at Pentecost that resulted in some three
thousand new converts to Christianity (Acts 2:14-41). More recently, Peter has
been used as an instrument of God in the miraculous healing of Aeneas (Acts
9:32-35).
Tabitha is a female disciple in Joppa who has
recently died. While the name Tabitha (Ταβιθά) was originally in Aramaic, Luke
also provides the Greek translation as Dorcas (Δορκάς), which is a good reminder not to carry our twenty-first
century sensibilities into the text. While the name Dorcas may not sound
particularly attractive to us in today’s culture, it was actually a very
beautiful name, meaning “gazelle.”[5] Luke also tells us that Tabitha was “full of good works and acts
of charity” (Acts 9:36). Comparing the ESV translation with the NASB (“was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity
which she continually did”) and the NIV (“was
always doing good
and helping the poor”) underlines the
truth that Tabitha did not merely feel compassion for others, but rather she
acted on her concerns and put them into action, performing many kind and
charitable deeds.
Interpretation
Genre
The Book of Acts is primarily historical narrative,
as Luke seeks to describe actual events that took place in space and time. More
specifically, some identify it further as “an excellent example of Hellenistic
historiography,” which “was not written simply to record records or to
chronicle the past,” but also to “encourage… inform, moralize, or offer an
apologetic.”[6]
Also, in Acts 1:1, Luke refers back to his gospel: “In the first book, O
Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.” The
opening verses of his gospel point to a thorough investigative effort and deep
concern for accuracy in Luke’s writings:
Inasmuch
as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been
accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses
and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also,
having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly
account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty
concerning the things you have been taught (Luke 1:1-4).
It is reasonable to conclude that Luke applied the
same historical approach when writing Acts.
Context
The immediate context of this passage is found in
the preceding section of Acts 9, when Peter is in Lydda, where Jesus Christ has
worked through the apostle to heal Aeneas (Acts 9:32-35). To set a slightly
wider context, in the passage just prior to Aeneas’ miraculous healing, Luke
gives a progress report of the early church: “So the church throughout all
Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in
the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied”
(Acts 9:31). In a still wider context, Acts 9:36-43 fills an early stage in the
story of God’s first major expansion of His church to include the Gentiles,
which Luke describes in Acts chapter 10.[7]
Geographical
Location
The majority of action in Acts 9:36-43 takes place
in the town of Joppa, while Lydda plays a supporting role. Joppa was a “small
harbor town on the Palestinian coast, situated on a rocky promontory about
midway between Mt. Carmel and Gaza, 35 miles northwest of Jerusalem.”[8]
This was also the same coastal town where many years earlier Jonah had boarded
a ship as he attempted to flee from the presence of God (Jon. 1:3). While the
particulars of Joppa do not play a major role in the narrative, it should be
noted that Peter’s coming to this town may indicate the sovereign positioning
of God as He prepares the apostle to take His gospel to Cornelius and the
Gentiles. Lydda was located on the Plain of Sharon approximately eleven miles
inland from Joppa.[9]
Content
As historical narrative, this passage is fairly
straightforward in the interpretation of its content, though some interesting
questions do arise that require a closer look. In summary, a follower of Christ
named Tabitha has died following an illness, and her body is washed and placed
in an upper room. Her fellow disciples have heard that Peter is in nearby
Lydda, and (perhaps having heard of the healing of Aeneas) two men are sent to
urge the apostle to come without delay. Peter agrees, and when he arrives in
Joppa he is led upstairs. There he walks in on a scene of intense emotion. Luke
tells us that, “All the widows stood beside him weeping and
showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them” (Acts 9:39b). Here we have
a fuller revelation of what Luke meant back in verse 36 when he wrote that
Dorcas was “. . . full of good works and acts of charity.”
Dorcas had
served her Savior by making clothing for the widows of Joppa.
Peter then asks everyone to leave him alone with
Tabitha’s body. Peter kneels and prays, and apparently the Lord answers his
prayer, making him aware of a great work He is about to do in the midst of this
overwhelming grief. Peter then turns to the body and says, “Tabitha arise,” and
she opens her eyes and sits up. Peter offers his hand and helps Tabitha to her
feet. Perhaps Peter was concerned about
becoming ceremonially unclean, as Luke does not record him touching Tabitha
until after she had sat up.
Peter then calls the disciples and widows back into
the room, and they see that Tabitha is indeed alive, having been resurrected by
her Lord. The word of this miracle spreads quickly throughout Joppa, and many
people put their faith in Jesus Christ. One
might think that some would give Peter the credit for healing Tabitha, but Acts
9:42 demonstrates that the ultimate glory was attributed to God. Rather than
people becoming followers of the apostle we read that "many believed in
the Lord" as a result of Peter being used as an instrument of God to raise
Tabitha from the dead. Similarly, in the previous healing of Aeneas, Peter had
made it clear who had restored the paralyzed man: “And Peter said to him,
‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.’ And immediately he
rose” (Acts 9:34).
As the passage concludes, Luke tells us that the
apostle Peter will remain in Joppa for many days, staying at the home of Simon,
a tanner (Acts 9:43).
Application
Though Acts 9:36-43 is primarily descriptive, it
still contains useful insights, particularly regarding our God and the
experiences of our brethren in the early church. For instance, the raising of
Tabitha is not prescriptive. Christians
are not called to follow Peter’s example whenever finding themselves in the
presence of a dead body, putting everyone out of the room as they attempt to
restore life to the corpse. Yet believers should be greatly encouraged and
strengthened when reading this historical narrative and considering the power
of God to restore life in the midst of tremendous grief. Again, as a
descriptive passage, Acts 9:36-43 does not teach us to expect this kind of
miraculous intervention on a regular basis, but it should deepen our faith in
the God of the Bible as one contemplates His absolute power over life and
death.
Also,
if we widen the context and consider what follows in Acts 10, we can recognize
the sovereign hand of God moving to position Peter at Simon the tanner’s home.
It will be on Simon's rooftop that Peter is given a series of visions that
prepare him to take the gospel to Cornelius and the Gentiles. This glimpse into
the overarching plan of God to expand His church and include Gentiles in the
body of Christ, should fill us with awe, and humble us before our mighty King,
the Lord who is sovereign over all of human history.
[1]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles,
2001); unless otherwise noted, this translation is used throughout.
[2]Frank E. Gaebelein, Richard
N. Longenecker, and Merrill C. Tenney, John and Acts, vol. 9 of The Expositor's Bible Commentary
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 238.
[3]F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, vol. 7 of The New International Commentary on the New
Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1988), 6.
[5]William Arndt, Walter Bauer
and Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and
Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2000).
[6]Gordon D. Fee and Douglas
Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its
Worth (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), 109.
[7]Gordon D. Fee and Douglas
Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its
Worth, 112.
[8]Anson F. Rainey, “Joppa,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 2, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1982), 1118.
[9]William Ewing, “Lydda,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 3, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1982), 150.
[8]Anson F. Rainey, “Joppa,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 2, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1982), 1118.
[9]William Ewing, “Lydda,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 3, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 1982), 150.
