Acts10:31
Previous VerseTranslation
He brought to light,
Go to footnote number“Cornelius, your prayer
Go to footnote numberhas been heard, and your compassionate giving to the poor
Go to footnote numberhas been remembered before God.
Paraphrase
This angel made the following clear to me, “Cornelius (meaning unknown) when you exchanged your will for God’s will through prayer, God took note of that; when you showed compassion by giving to the needy, God took note of that too.
Footnotes
1
This is the same word used above, “to shine, to bring to light, to illuminate a matter with words.” The angel was bringing to light the answer to Cornelius’s question.
2
This word for prayer comes from two words meaning “toward” and “exchange,” or we would say, “exchange toward.” What is being exchanged? The human is looking to God and exchanging his will for Gods’ will.
3
This word means to demonstrate compassion, mercy or pity by giving to the needy. It comes from a root word meaning “mercy, compassion, pity.”
THE FIRST CONFIRMATION THAT GOD ACCEPTS GENTILES
The first part of the answer to his burning question, the revealing of that which had been concealed, came as a visit from an angel to Cornelius. The angel indicated that God had taken note of Cornelius and had listened to him.
Now let’s jump ahead to when Peter shows up at Cornelius’ house in response to a vision from God followed immediately by the invitation brought by the men Cornelius had sent to him.