Translated by Qwen who notes: This translation aims to preserve both the scholarly rigor and the pastoral intent of Froidmont's commentary, making accessible a representative work of 17th-century Catholic biblical scholarship.
FATHER LIBERT FROIDMONT: COMMENTARY ON ACTS 2:14–33
Acts 2:14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice…
[Commentary] But Peter standing: so that he might be more easily heard by the multitude, and because it was the custom of the Jews that those delivering sermons would rise to their feet (as stated in Acts 1:15).
With the eleven: the other Apostles who surrounded Peter as their prince and head, and who also spoke through his mouth.
He lifted up his voice: Chrysostom here remarks how suddenly Peter was changed into another man—he who recently, terrified by the voice of a single servant girl, had denied his Lord, now with raised voice and unshaken courage confesses Him before the Scribes, Pharisees, and a multitude of all nations, and begins the promulgation of the New Law; and indeed without prior study or premeditated speech, whereas great orators about to speak before so frequent an audience often find their voice sticking in their throat and are struck dumb with fear.
Men of Judea, and all you who dwell in Jerusalem: whether Jews, or proselytes, or even Gentiles. For in that famous city people of every kind dwelt, and had flocked together for the spectacle.
Acts 2:22 Men of Israel, hear these words…
[Commentary] Men of Israel: by carnal descent, not yet by imitation of the faith of your father Israel.
Jesus of Nazareth: He does not immediately at the outset call Him Son of God or Messiah, lest he irritate His slayers, some of whom were present (as Chrysostom and Oecumenius note); but modestly speaks of Him merely as a man like others, even naming His homeland, which was ignoble. Hence Nathanael's remark: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46). Moreover, Nazareth was in Galilee, from which region no prophet had ever arisen, as the Pharisees object (John 7:52).
A man approved by God: in life and doctrine. Again he calls Him "Man" only, not God or anything greater than man, so that without offending them he may gradually ascend to greater truths.
Among you: during the entire period of three years and more, during which He lived and preached among you.
By miracles, wonders, and signs: for by these God had approved the life and doctrine of His Son. St. Thomas teaches (II–II, q. 178, a. 1, ad 3) that these three terms—virtues (miracles), wonders, and signs—are distinguished only by aspect, and all are found in one and the same miracle. For insofar as something in miracles exceeds the power of nature, they are called virtues, as certain excellent effects of divine power; insofar as miracles are performed to manifest something supernatural, they are called signs; and on account of the excellence of their signification, they are also called portents (prodigia), as showing something from afar, says St. Thomas.
Which God did by Him: as by an instrument united to divinity, just as the body is an organ immediately united to our soul, which it uses in its operations—as the Carthusian teaches following Damascene.
In the midst of you: openly and before all, so that you cannot deny these things.
Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God…
[Commentary] Him, by the determinate counsel: this Jesus of Nazareth, such and so great a man, was delivered not by chance, but by a certain and determined decree. "Counsel" properly is not in God, who does not deliberate about things to be done but judges and decrees—just as those who deliberate are accustomed to do at the end of their deliberation.
And foreknowledge of God: by which God the Father foreknew from eternity what He would do in time. Thus this event was not casual or unforeseen. So formerly Joseph, as Chrysostom notes, to console his brothers who had sold him into Egypt and that they might bear their sin more lightly, considering the good which God had brought from that evil, said to them: "It was not by your counsel, but by the will of God that I was sent here" (Gen 45:8).
Delivered: exposed and presented to your will, not by inciting you to evil, but by providing only the occasion, nor by snatching Him from your hands—yet for a good end. For the Father had decreed from eternity to redeem the human race by the immolation of His Son, whether by commanding it to be done by such a sacrifice as He had commanded Abraham to offer his son, or by using the malice and agency of the wicked. Then He willed that Christ should live such a life, teach such doctrine, work such miracles, from which He foresaw that the envy and malice of his own people would erupt even to His death; whence from this immense evil He decreed to work the immense good of human redemption. From which it is evident that the death of Christ was not merely permitted (as some teach today), but also decreed by the Father, who willed to be appeased by this victim and no other—as our elders of Louvain learnedly teach in Chapter 5 of their Censure on Justification.
It is also a false and heretical dogma which Calvin and Beza attempt to extract from this passage, as if God in the same manner decreed and predestined the sin of the Jews as He is the predestinator and predeterminer of good works.
By the hands of lawless men: the Roman soldiers, who were Gentiles and lawless (Greek: exleges), living, that is, outside the law of God.
You have crucified and slain: when you cried out to Pilate, "Crucify, crucify Him!"
Acts 2:24 Whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death…
[Commentary] Whom God raised up: just as previously he had called Him merely "Man," not God, so now he says He was raised not by Himself but by God.
Having loosed the pains of hell: by which, as by bonds, the souls of the just were detained, partly in Limbo, partly in Purgatory. For when during the three days of death the Soul of Christ descended to the lower world, He freed all those souls from that subterranean prison. Nor was the pain of loss which the souls of the saints suffered in Limbo without all grief, says the Carthusian, on account of the delay of glory; for "hope deferred afflicts the soul" (Prov 13:12).
It may also be understood that Christ loosed and dispersed the snares of the pains of hell, which are accustomed to be set for those descending to hell, lest He Himself be held by them—just as the snares of hunters are said to be "loosed" when they do not hold, because they have not caught, says St. Augustine (Epistle 99). The following words greatly favor this explanation: for the Greeks today read "having loosed the pains of death," by which, namely, one passes through death to those pains of hell.
According as it was impossible: because it was impossible, since He was subject to no sin, but rather absolved others from sin and from the punishments of sins.
That he should be held by it: that He should be held by hell and infernal death, lest He go forth from it and rise gloriously from the dead. Whence hell and death immediately vomited Him forth, just as formerly the whale vomited forth Jonah.
Acts 2:25 For David speaks concerning Him…
[Commentary] For David says concerning Him: speaking of Him in His person, in Psalm 15.
I foresaw the Lord always before my face: I always had God before the eyes of my heart. For Christ, from the first instant of His Conception, perpetually enjoyed the vision of the divine Essence. David also, and those great saints, are accustomed to think perpetually of God, to whom they refer themselves and all their works, and in whom they do all things.
For He is at my right hand, that I should not be moved: that He may help me fighting against adversaries; for the right hand is the hand with which we fight. That I should not be moved: so immutable was Christ's humanity that it could not be moved or bent in the least from the state of rectitude; for He was impeccable.
Acts 2:26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced…
[Commentary] Therefore my heart was glad: on account of such great perfection and stability of soul in God.
And my tongue rejoiced: so that the joy of the heart overflowed into the exultation of the tongue, which sang God's praises and gave endless thanks for such great benefits.
Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: my body, at the end of my life, shall rest with the rest of death, in hope of the resurrection.
Acts 2:27 Because you will not leave my soul in hell…
[Commentary] Because you will not leave, O my God, my soul in hell: when it descends to hell after my death, it will immediately return from there.
Nor will you give your Holy One to see corruption: You will not permit the Body of Christ, Your Holy One, to be corrupted and dissolved into putrefaction.
Acts 3:28 You have made known to me the ways of life…
[Commentary] You have made known to me by experience the ways of life: by which one rises from death to immortal life—ways which were previously unknown to all mortals. For no one before Christ rose from death to immortal life; whence He is called "the Firstborn of the dead" (Rev 1:5) and "the Firstfruits of those who sleep" (1 Cor 15:20).
And you will fill me with joy with your countenance: both as to body and as to soul; with joy, that is, with glory from which joy and gladness flow forth; with your countenance, through the contemplation of Your face. For from this the glory of the soul overflows into the body.
Acts 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David…
[Commentary] Men and brethren: he addresses them with the friendly name "brethren" to prepare their minds, lest they be offended by the explanation of the Psalm, in which he was about to say that David spoke these words not in his own person but in that of Christ.
Let me speak boldly to you: with your permission and indulgence, lest you be offended by what I am about to say boldly among you.
Concerning the patriarch David: whose esteem is so great among you.
That he is dead and buried: that he died, as is written (3 Kings 2:10), and was buried in the city of David, or on Mount Zion, as is narrated there; and his tomb is with you to this day: as proof of this fact. For even long afterward, following the devastations of Jerusalem under Titus and Hadrian, the Mausoleum of David's tomb still remained, which St. Jerome mentions (Epistle 17 to Marcella). Although it is probable that amid so many wars and devastations it was at some time destroyed and afterward rebuilt on account of the very great esteem for David among the Jews. For St. Peter indicates that in that tomb the ashes of David's body were still present, because from this he proves that his flesh saw corruption; but this could not be proved from an empty tomb. Otherwise, from the tomb of Christ, which still exists today, it would be proved that Christ did not rise.
Hence it is also gathered that David was not among those whose tombs were opened at the Passion of Christ and who immediately after the Resurrection rose to immortal life, as many hold (Matt 27:53). Just as Samuel also was not among them, whose bones were translated from Palestine to Chalcedon in his time, as St. Jerome narrates against Vigilantius. Therefore those saints who rose with Christ had recently died and were still known by face to those to whom they appeared in Jerusalem to attest Christ's Resurrection, as St. Epiphanius writes.
Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him…
[Commentary] Because with an oath God had sworn to him: to show the firmness of His promise, "The Lord has sworn truth," etc. (Ps 131).
Of the fruit of his loins: of his seed. For the Hebrews, with an honorable term, designate the virile parts by the name of a neighboring part, either the loins or the belly: "Of the fruit of your womb" (same Psalm).
To sit upon his throne: to exercise royal spiritual power over the whole Church, gathered from Jews and Gentiles, which was prefigured by the throne and kingdom of David. "The Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father" (Luke 1:32).
Acts 2:31 He foreseeing this, spoke of the resurrection of Christ…
[Commentary] Foreseeing: that is, foreseeing future things, as prophets are accustomed to do.
He spoke of the resurrection of Christ: not of his own, since indeed the flesh of David saw corruption.
Acts 2:32-33 This Jesus has God raised up… Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted…
[Commentary] Therefore being exalted by the right hand of God: glorified by the power of God through the Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and placed at His right hand, according to that: "The right hand of the Lord has exalted me" (Ps 117).
And having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit: for the Father had promised that He would send the Holy Spirit, because His Son had asked Him: "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete" (John 14:16).
He has poured forth this: the Holy Spirit, or His gifts. For just as the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father but also from the Son, so also He is said to be sent by the Son and poured forth. Christ therefore asks the Father as man; but the Holy Spirit pours forth as God.
Whom you both see and hear: you see in His effect when you see unlearned men speaking the mighty works of God and the most profound mysteries of Sacred Scripture with such wisdom, facility, and freedom—all of which are effects of the Holy Spirit poured forth into them; and you hear in that diversity of tongues in which we all address you. In this very sermon of Peter they saw and heard the prodigious operation of the Holy Spirit: that although Peter was speaking in one language, presumably Galilean, nevertheless the Jews of all nations who were present understood it as if it were their mother tongue.
CONTINUE
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