crees are said to have been ordained
"of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem" (Acts xvi. 4); but
not one of these statements necessarily implies that these rulers were
exclusively elders _of the Church of Jerusalem_.

[82:1] It has been argued by Burton ("Lectures," vol. i. p. 122), that
the first visit of Paul to Jerusalem after his conversion took place
about the time of one of the great festivals, as he is said, on the
occasion, to have "disputed against the Grecians" (Acts ix. 29), who
were likely then to have been very numerous in the city. If he arrived
now at the time of the same festival, the interval must have been
precisely fourteen years.

[82:2] Gal. ii. 1. Some make these fourteen years to include the three
years mentioned Gal. i. 18, but this interpretation does violence to the
languages of the apostle. The system of chronology here adopted requires
no such forced expositions. Paul came to Jerusalem three years after his
conversion, that is, in A.D. 37; and fourteen years after, that is, in
A.D. 51, he was at this Synod.

[82:3] Acts ix. 26.

[83:1] Acts xxi. 20.

[83:2] Acts xxi. 21.

[83:3] Acts xv. 5.

[83:4] Gal. ii. 4. It is here taken for granted that the visit to
Jerusalem, mentioned in the second chapter of the Epistle to the
Galatians, is the same as that described in the fifteenth of Acts. Paul
says that he went up "by revelation" (Gal. ii. 2),--a statement from
which it appears that he was divinely instructed to adopt this method of
settling the question.

[83:5] Gal. ii. 12.

[83:6] Gal. ii. 2.

[83:7] Acts xvi. 4, xxi. 25.

[84:1] Acts xv. 12.

[84:2] Acts xv. 22.

[84:3] Acts xv. 23.

[84:4] The expression here used--"the multitude" ([Greek: to
plethos])--is repeatedly applied in the New Testament to the Sanhedrim,
a court consisting of not more than seventy-two members. See Luke
xxiii. 1; Acts xxiii. 7. There were probably more individuals present
at this meeting.

[84:5] Acts xv. 2.

[84:6] 1 Cor. xii. 28; Eph. iv. 11.

[84:7] In Acts xi. 27, we read of "prophets" who came "from Jerusalem
unto Antioch."

[84:8] Acts xv. 23. "The apostles, and elders, _and_ brethren."

[84:9]The context may appear to be favourable to this interpretation,
for the two deputies now chosen--"Judas surnamed Barsabas, and
Silas"--who are said to have been "chief men among _the brethren_" (ver.
22), are likewise described as "_prophets_ also themselves" (ver. 32).
In Acts xv