And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
and he became hungry, and desired to eat: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance;
And he was in need of food: but while they were getting it ready, a deep sleep came on him;
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing, he fell into a trance.
and he became hungry, and desired to eat: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance;
He became very hungry - It seems that this happened about dinner-time; for it appears that they were making ready, παρασκευαζοντων, dressing the victuals for the family. The dinner among the ancients was a very slight meal; and they had no breakfast: their supper was their principal meal. And, in very ancient times, they ate only once in the day. Supper was the meal at which they saw their friends, the business of the day being then finished.
He fell into a trance - Επεπεσεν επ' αυτον εκϚασις, An ecstasy fell upon him. A person may be said to be in an ecstasy when transported with joy or admiration, so that he is insensible to every object but that on which he is engaged. Peter's ecstasy is easily accounted for: he went up to the house-top to pray: at first he felt keen hunger; but, being earnestly engaged with God, all natural appetites became absorbed in the intense application of his soul to his Maker. While every passion and appetite was under this Divine influence, and the soul, without let or hinderance, freely conversing with God, then the visionary and symbolical representation mentioned here took place.
And he became very hungry - Prom the connection, where it is said that they were making ready, that is, preparing a meal, it would seem that this was the customary hour of dining. The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, however, had but two meals, and the first was usually taken about ten or eleven o'clock. This meal usually consisted of fruit, milk, cheese, etc. Their principal meal was about six or seven in the afternoon, at which time they observed their feasts. See Jahn's Bible. Archaeol. section 145.
He fell into a trance - Greek: an ecstasy, ἔκστασις ekstasis, fell upon him. In Acts 11:5, Peter says that in a trance he saw a vision. The word "trance, or ecstasy," denotes "a state of mind when the attention is absorbed in a particular train of thought, so that the external senses are partially or entirely suspended." It is a high species of abstraction from external objects, when the mind becomes forgetful of surrounding things, and is fixed solely on its own thoughts, so that appeals to the external senses do not readily rouse it. The soul seems to have passed out of the body, and to be conversant only with spiritual essences. Thus, Balaam is said to have seen the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance Numbers 24:4, Numbers 24:16; thus Paul, in praying in the temple, fell into a trance Acts 22:17; and perhaps a similar state is described in 2 Corinthians 12:2. This effect seems to be caused by so intense and absorbing a train of thought as to overcome the senses of the body, or wholly to withdraw the mind from their influence, and to fix it on the unseen object that engrosses it. It is often a high state of reverie, or absence of mind, which Dr. Rush describes as "induced by the stimulus of ideas of absent subjects, being so powerful as to destroy the perception of present objects" (Diseases of the Mind, p. 310, ed. Philadelphia, 1812). In the case of Peter, however, there was a supernatural influence that drew his attention away from present objects.
10:10 And he became very hungry - At the usual meal time. The symbols in visions and trances, it is easy to observe, are generally suited to the state of the natural faculties.