Bible Study Lesson for Acts 9:32-43: Aeneas and Dorcas

(Note: When I taught my Bible study on the Book of Acts I used a flannel map as a visual aid. In my lecture notes you will find reference to this flannel map. The primary commentary I used was Compton's Interactive Bible, a software CD; I sometimes refer to this as my Interactive Bible CD.)

The main character of the story now shifts from Saul to Peter. { Put away flannel map }

Read Acts 9:32. When we last read about Peter traveling, it was with John. Here Peter is traveling by himself. { Show map from "Story of the Bible World" pg. 149 and point out Lydda.} Lydda is about 22 miles away from Jerusalem. The apostles apparently had a pattern of visiting the saints living in nearby towns.

Read Acts 9:33. Since Peter was in Lydda to visit the believers, Aeneas was probably a Christian. As a side note, this is one of the verses which helps provide support that Acts was written by Luke, a physician, since we see the word "paralytic" used here.

Read Acts 9:34. Notice that both men act in faith here: Peter in claiming that Jesus has healed Aeneas and Aeneas in believing he spoke the truth. There is no mention of Peter reaching down to help Aeneas, Aeneas simply got up. I tend to believe that it was when Aeneas moved to comply, acting in faith, that he was healed.

Read Acts 9:35. The term "Sharon" usually refers to a fertile plain running 50 miles roughly along the coast, from Joppa to Caesarea { Show again on map from "Story of the Bible World", pg. 149.} However, in this case, it may be talking about a specific village close to Lydda, rather than a district. (My commentary tells me we have an Egyptian papyrus that talks about a village by that name in Palestine.) It makes more sense that it was an entire village would see the healed man, rather than a 50 mile district. Once again we see how God uses healing to not only bless the healed person, but also to show His power and bring people to Christ.

Read Acts 9:36. Joppa is on the coast, about 10 miles from Lydda. { Show map from "Story of the Bible World" pg. 159 and point out Lydda. } Tabitha is Aramaic, Dorcas is Greek. Both mean "gazelle." In a culture where both languages are spoken it is not surprising she was known by both names. This could also mean that she was well known and respected by both ethnic groups, the Hebraic and Grecian Jews.

Read Acts 9:37. In preparation for burial, a custom common to both Jews (Purification of the Dead) and Greeks. If burial was delayed, it was customary to lay the body in an upper room. In Jerusalem the body had to be buried the day the person died, but outside Jerusalem up to three days might be allowed for burial. If Tabitha was as well loved as implied here, burial may have been delayed so that the maximum number of people could come and give their respects.

Read Acts 9:38. To us, ten miles is a long way to go on foot, but in that day Joppa and Lydda were probably consider near "neighbors." Assuming a 15-minute mile, it would take 2.5 hours to walk between the two towns. It is very possible that these two men left Joppa, found Peter in Lydda, and turned around and walked back to Joppa, without spending the night.

Read Acts 9:39. Here we learn a little bit about what kind of good works Dorcas/Tabitha had done for people, making clothes for widows. Taking care of needy widows, we know, was an important ministry of the church. We hear no mention of a husband, so it is possible that Dorcas is a widow herself, but perhaps was left relatively financially secure when her husband died, unlike her poorer friends.

Read Acts 9:40-41. Peter was present at all three occasions recorded in the Bible when Jesus raised someone from the dead. In one story, in the raising of the healer's daughter, Jesus had the crowd removed from the room first. Read Matthew 9:23-25. We see Peter here praying, then giving Tabitha the command to get up. In all three occasions with Jesus, we see Jesus also commanding the person to rise. Read Luke 7:11-15; Luke 8:53-55; John 11:43-44. I found this very interesting. I think the reason Peter prayed was to check in with God to make sure it was God's will that Tabitha be brought back to life. Remember, for the Christian, death is not an evil, but rather the way God calls us home. Verse 36 tells us that she was a disciple, so it was not a case of an unbeliever being brought back from Hell so that she can have a second chance. No, if she was to be brought back, it had to be for another reason, to glorify God (we'll see in verse 42 one reason why God probably did it). Once Peter believed it was God's will that Tabitha be resurrected notice how he steps out in faith: he doesn't say "Oh, dear God, please bring Tabitha back..." he makes the jump to assume God has resurrected her by telling her to "get up" -- words of confidence and faith.

Read Acts 9:42. Dorcas' resurrection from the dead has the same response that Lazarus' did, many people come to Christ as a result. Read John 12:9-11. Interestingly this might not be the first time one of the disciples raised someone from the dead. When they were traveling with Jesus, the 12 disciples are sent out at one time with the specific command to raise the dead. Read Matthew 10:5-8. I admit this surprised me when I discovered this since I had thought that up to this point the only resurrections had been done at Jesus' hand.

Read Acts 9:43. I am so grateful for commentaries! Without my interactive Bible CD I wouldn't have realized how significant this verse was - I would have just thought, "Oh, OK, so Peter stayed in Joppa with a man named Simon..." but there is quite a bit more here. First off, notice that Simon here does not have a last name, so individuals were often identified further by their occupations. It is unlikely, therefore, that there would have been more than one tanner in Joppa whose name was Simon. But there is even more to it than that: A tanner was involved in treating the skins of dead animals, thus contacting the unclean according to Jewish law; many despised him. Peter's decision to stay with him shows already a willingness to reject Jewish prejudice and prepares the way for his coming vision in the next chapter and the mission to the Gentiles.

Blessings!

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version
Editors. Story of the Bible World