The news of what had happened at Lydda soon reached Joppa; and the disciples who dwelt there, sent unto Peter, desiring that he would not delay to come to them. The cause of their sending for the Apostle, was the death of a certain disciple, a woman "named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did": her kindness and charity had made her to be loved by all, and her death therefore caused great grief to those who had benefited by her kindness. Peter obeyed the summons of the messengers; he "arose and went with them. When he was come" to Joppa, "they brought him into the upper chamber," where they had laid the body: "and all the widows stood by, weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them." But Peter put them all out of the chamber, and then "kneeled down, and prayed." After this, turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and lifted her up, and when he had called the saints and widows, presented her alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord," in Whose name, and by Whose power, Peter had worked this great miracle. It has been said of this Tabitha, that "by interpretation her name was Dorcas." This good woman was a _Grecian_, or foreign Jewess, and as such, her name was Tabitha, which means an "antelope"--a very graceful animal of the deer kind, having very beautiful eyes. It was a common practice amongst the Arabs, and other nations of Asia, to give to female children the names of such animals as were particularly admired. The Jews, instead of calling Tabitha by what was _to them a foreign_ name, called her Dorcas; because that word, in their language, meant antelope. Therefore, Dorcas was the Jewish interpretation of Tabitha. Peter did not leave Joppa again immediately after the restoration of Dorcas; on the contrary, "he tarried many days in Joppa, with one Simon a tanner." The Gospel had by this time been preached freely to the Jews in Jerusalem, and throughout Judæa, Samaria, and Galilee; and the time was now come for it to be preached to the Gentiles also. Peter was accordingly chosen by God to begin this work, about A.D. 40. We are told, "There was a certain man in Cæsarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway." The Italian band, was a company of a thousand Roman soldiers, acting probably as a guard to the Roman governor of Judæa, whose usual residence was at Cæsarea, a city of great importance.