3/20/24
Bruce, F.F. (1988). "Peter in Western Judaea (9:32-43)." In The Book of Acts (Revised). (pp. 197-199). William B. Eerdmans Publishing,
Bruce notes that we last saw Peter in Acts 8:25. Since that time, there had been a wave of persecution. Bruce suggests that his itinerant visitation in Acts 9 would correspond to a lull in the persecution (Bruce 1988, p. 197). The visit to Lydda would be to a Christian community probably started when the Christians were dispersed from Jerusalem. Philip may also have been there in Acts 8, as Lydda was the center of an administrative district.
Bruce supposes that Aeneas, who was healed by Peter, was already a Christian and that he was probably visited at home, since he is told to make up his bed, rather than to carry it somewhere (Bruce 1988, p. 198). Bruce notes the similar healing in Mark 2:9.
Verse 35 describes the news of Aeneas' healing spreading and drawing others to come and be exposed to the gospel. Bruce notes the area as "semi-Gentile" and therefore constituting another move of the gospel to Gentiles (Bruce 1988, p. 198).
Bruce describes the location of Joppa, the site of Peter's next stop. It is northeast of Lydda, on the coast. Now it is adjacent to Tel-aviv. There is record of the city as early as the 15th century B.C. (Bruce 1988, p. 199). Peter was called from Lydda to Joppa due to the death of Tabitha, part of Joppa's Christian community. Peter was brought to the room where Tabitha was laid out, and saw widows who had received garments made by her. After sending everyone out of the room, Peter called her to get up. Bruce notes the similarity of this call to Jesus' words in Mark 5:41, only one letter different in Aramaic (Bruce 1988, p. 199). As with the healing of Aeneas in Lydda, Tabitha's healing no doubt attracted attention in and around Joppa, where Peter stayed for some time with a tanner named Simon (v. 43). Bruce notes that due to the tanner's work with dead animals he would have been outside of the town, probably near the sea as salt water was normally used to process hides.