The story of his conversion and admission into the Christian church is told with some minuteness in Acts 10. Moreover, he seems to have made his house a sort of church, for his kinsfolk and friends were in sympathy with him, and among the soldiers who closely attended him were some devout ones ( Acts 10:1,27).ģ. Even Jewish bigotry was dumb in presence of so noble a man. He was well reported of by the Jews, and his religion showed itself in prayer at the regular hours, and in alms to the people (of Israel). at least, one of those men so numerous in that effete age of decadent heathenism who, discontented with polytheism, yearned for a better faith, embraced, therefore, the monotheism of the Jews, read the Scriptures, and practiced more or less of the Jewish rites. He is described as devout and God-fearing, i.e. With this cohort Cornelius was connected as centurion. Therefore the Roman government mingled with the garrison 600 soldiers, free Italian volunteers. But it would not have been prudent for a garrison in Palestine to be composed wholly of troops locally recruited. The headquarters were naturally at Caesarea, the residence of the procurator. From the year 6 AD, when Palestine was made into province of the second rank, until 66 AD, it was garrisoned by auxiliary troops recruited amongst the Samaritans and Syrian Greeks. Legions were never permanently quartered in Palestine until the great war which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem, 70 AD. To understand this we must note that the Roman army was divided into two broad divisions, the legions and the auxiliary forces. He was a centurion in the Italian cohort. He was evidently a man of importance in Caesarea and well known to the Jews ( Acts 10:22). Julian the Apostate reckons him as one of the few persons of distinction who became a Christian. Thus he was probably an Italian of Roman blood. The name is Roman and belonged to distinguished families in the imperial city, such as the Scipios and Sulla. The story of Cornelius is given in Acts 10:1-11:18. indicates this entry was also found in Smith's Bible DictionaryĮaston, Matthew George. indicates this entry was also found in Hitchcock's Bible Names indicates this entry was also found in Nave's Topical Bible Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, He and his family were baptized and admitted into the Christian church ( Acts 10:1 Acts 10:44-48 ). He became the first fruit of the Gentile world to Christ. His residence at Caesrea probably brought him into contact with Jews who communicated to him their expectations regarding the Messiah and thus he was prepared to welcome the message Peter brought him. He was a "devout man," and like the centurion of Capernaum, believed in the God of Israel. That such a man chose, instead, to worship the Jewish God (Acts 10:2) is no small thing.A centurion whose history is narrated in Acts 10. This suggests Cornelius was a Roman centurion, stationed in the capital city of the Rome-backed king, yet he rejected emperor worship and the Roman pantheon of gods. That it was an Italian cohort probably means the men were from Rome and not natives of other cities in the Roman Empire. Formally, it means the tenth part of a legion. Yet another took Paul's advice during the voyage to Rome and saved the crew, the soldiers, and the prisoners (Acts 27:30–44).Ĭohort is from the Greek root word speira. It was also a centurion who was wise enough to stop the soldiers from beating Paul, a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25–26), and a centurion who helped save Paul from an assassination attempt (Acts 23:16–19). Although a centurion would have been in command of the soldiers who mocked and beat Jesus (Matthew 27:27–31), a centurion also realized Jesus was the Son of God (Matthew 27:54). It was a centurion who had such faith he assumed Jesus could heal at a distance (Matthew 8:8–9). Centurions were typically wise and well-disciplined, good leaders who could control their soldiers. However, they were often in command of many more men. In literal terms, a centurion is a commander of 100 soldiers. At the time of these events, the leader in Caesarea is probably Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1). There is another Caesarea in Philippi, north of the Sea of Galilee, where Peter declared that Jesus is the Messiah (Mark 8:27–29). It was built by Herod the Great and named after Caesar Augustus. It is traditionally the capital of the Roman leaders, though Pilate chose to live in Jerusalem. Caesarea Maritima is a seaport in Samaria on the coast of the Mediterranean.
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