Note [édition originale] : When the apostles of Jesus came to Antioch;] To explain this passage, the commentators tell the following story:
The people of
Antioch being idolaters,
Jesus sent two of his disciples
thither to preach to them; and when they drew near the city they found
Habîb,
surnamed
al Najjâr, or the carpenter, feeding sheep, and acquainted him with
their errand; whereupon he asked them what proof they had of their veracity,
and they told him they could cure the sick, and the blind, and the lepers; and
to demonstrate the truth of what they said, they laid their hands on a child
of his who was sick, and immediately restored him to health.
Habîb was
convinced by this miracle, and believed; after which they went into the city
and preached the worship of one true
God, curing a great number of people of
several infirmities; but at length, the affair coming to the prince’s ear, he
ordered them to be imprisoned for endeavouring to seduce the people. When
Jesus heard of this, he sent another of his disciples, generally supposed to
have been
Simon Peter, who, coming to
Antioch, and appearing as a zealous
idolater, soon insinuated himself into the favour of the inhabitants and of their prince, and at length
took an opportunity to desire the prince would order the two persons who, as
he was informed, had been put in prison for broaching new opinions, to be
brought before him to be examined; and accordingly they were brought: when
Peter, having previously warned them to take no notice that they knew him,
asked them who sent them, to which they answered,
God, who had created all
things, and had no companion. He then required some convincing proof of their
mission, upon which they restored a blind person to his sight and performed
some other miracles, with which
Peter seemed not to be satisfied, for that,
according to some, he did the very same miracles himself, but declared that,
if their
God could enable them to raise the dead, he would believe them; which
condition the two apostles accepting, a lad was brought who had been dead
seven days, and at their prayers he was raised to life; and thereupon
Peter
acknowledged himself convinced, and ran and demolished the idols, a great many
of the people following him, and embracing the true faith; but those who
believed not were destroyed by the cry of the angel
Gabriel
1.
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1
Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi, &c. V. etiam Marracc.
in Alc. p. 580.