paralysed, who had lain on a bed for eight years. Peter said to him: "AEneas, Jesus the Christ healeth thee; arise and make thy bed." And he arose immediately.(1) As the consequence of this miracle, the writer states that: "All who dwelt at Lydda and the Sharon saw him, who turned to the Lord."(2) The exaggeration of such a statement(3) is too palpable to require argument The effect produced by the supposed miracle is almost as incredible as the miracle itself, and the account altogether has little claim to the character of sober history. This mighty work, however, is altogether eclipsed by a miracle which Peter performs about the same time at Joppa. A certain woman, a disciple, named Tabitha, who was "full of good works," fell sick in those days and died, and when they washed her, they laid her in an upper chamber, and sent to Peter at Lydda, beseeching him to come to them without delay. When Peter arrived they took him into the upper chamber, where all the widows stood weeping, and showed coats and garments which Dorcas used to make while she was with them. "But Peter put them all out, and kneeled down and prayed; and, turning to the body, said: Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand, and raised her up, and when he called the saints and the widows, he presented her alive." Apparently, the raising of the dead did not produce as much effect as the cure of the paralytic, for the writer only adds here: "And it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord."(4) We shall hereafter have to speak of the perfect calmness and absence of surprise with which these early writers relate {185} the most astonishing miracles. It is evident from the manner in which this story is narrated that the miracle was anticipated.(1) The [------] in which the body is laid cannot have been the room generally used for that purpose, but is probably the single upper chamber of such a house which the author represents as specially adopted in anticipation of Peter's arrival.(2) The widows who stand by weeping and showing the garments made by the deceased complete the preparation. As Peter is sent for after Dorcas had died, it would seem as though the writer intimated that her friends expected him to raise her from the dead. The explanation of this singular phenomenon, however, becomes clear when it is remarked that the account of this great miracle is closely traced from that of the raising of Jairus' daughter in the Synoptics,(3) and more especially in the second Gospel.(4) In that instance Jesus is sent for; and, on coming to the house, he finds people "weeping and wailing greatly." He puts them all forth, like Peter; and, taking the child by the hand, says to her: "'Talitha koum,' which is being interpreted: Maiden, I say unto thee, arise. And immediately the maiden arose and walked."(5) Baur and others(6) conjecture that even the name "Tabitha, which by {186}