◄ Acts 9:36 ►
In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which is translated as Dorcas), who was always occupied with works of kindness and charity.
Study Bible
In Joppa

Joppa, known today as Jaffa, is an ancient port city on the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the oldest functioning harbors in the world and was historically significant as a gateway for trade and travel. In biblical times, Joppa was part of the territory allotted to the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:46). It is also the place where Jonah attempted to flee from God's command (Jonah 1:3). The city's location made it a melting pot of cultures and a strategic location for the spread of the Gospel.

Act 10:5 Now send men to Joppa to call for Simon, who is called Peter…
Jon 1:3 Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish…
2Ch 2:16 We will cut logs from Lebanon, as many as you need, …

there was a disciple named Tabitha

Tabitha is identified as a disciple, indicating her commitment to following Jesus Christ. The term "disciple" is used here to denote a female follower of Christ, highlighting the inclusive nature of the early Christian community. Tabitha's role as a disciple underscores the active participation of women in the early church, as seen in other New Testament passages (e.g., Romans 16:1-2, where Phoebe is mentioned as a deacon).

Act 16:14-15 Among those listening was a woman named Lydia,…
Rom 16:1-2 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church…
Luk 8:1-3 Soon afterward, Jesus traveled from one town and village…

(which is translated as Dorcas),

The name Tabitha is Aramaic, while Dorcas is the Greek equivalent, both meaning "gazelle." The use of both names suggests that she was known in both Jewish and Greek circles, reflecting the cultural diversity of the early church. The gazelle is often associated with grace and beauty, which may metaphorically describe her character and the impact of her ministry.

Jhn 1:42 Andrew brought him to Jesus, who looked at him…
Mrk 3:17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John…
Mat 27:33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha,…

who was always occupied with works of kindness and charity.

Tabitha's life was marked by her dedication to good works and acts of charity, embodying the Christian call to love and serve others (James 2:14-17). Her actions reflect the teachings of Jesus, who emphasized caring for the needy (Matthew 25:35-40). This phrase highlights the practical outworking of faith through service, a theme prevalent throughout the New Testament. Her example serves as a model for Christian living, demonstrating that true discipleship involves active compassion and generosity.

Tit 3:8 This saying is trustworthy. And I want you to emphasize…
1Ti 6:18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works,…
Act 10:2 He and all his household were devout and…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Tabitha/Dorcas
A disciple in Joppa known for her good works and acts of charity. Her name, Tabitha, is Aramaic, while Dorcas is the Greek translation, both meaning "gazelle," symbolizing grace and beauty.

2. Joppa
An ancient port city on the Mediterranean Sea, now part of modern-day Jaffa, Israel. It was a significant location for trade and cultural exchange, and it played a role in the early spread of Christianity.

3. Acts of Kindness and Charity
Tabitha was known for her continuous engagement in good deeds, particularly in helping the poor and needy, which reflects the Christian call to serve others.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Good Works
Tabitha's life exemplifies how Christians are called to be active in good works, not as a means of salvation, but as a reflection of their faith and love for Christ.

Using Our Gifts for God's Glory
Each believer has unique gifts and talents. Like Tabitha, we should use these to serve others and glorify God, demonstrating His love through our actions.

The Role of Women in the Early Church
Tabitha's account highlights the significant contributions of women in the early Christian community, encouraging us to recognize and support the diverse roles women play in the church today.

Legacy of Faith
Tabitha's impact was so profound that her community mourned her deeply and sought Peter's help. Our lives should similarly leave a legacy of faith and love that impacts others.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Tabitha's example challenge our understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ today?

2. In what ways can we, like Tabitha, be "occupied with works of kindness and charity" in our own communities?

3. How do the actions of Tabitha reflect the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, particularly regarding serving others?

4. What can we learn from the early church's response to Tabitha's death about the value of community and support among believers?

5. How can we ensure that our faith is demonstrated through our actions, as seen in the life of Tabitha and the teachings of James?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Proverbs 31
The description of the virtuous woman who extends her hand to the poor and reaches out to the needy parallels Tabitha's life of charity.

James 2:14-17
The emphasis on faith being demonstrated through works connects to Tabitha's life, as her faith was evident through her charitable actions.

Matthew 25:35-40
Jesus' teaching on serving "the least of these" aligns with Tabitha's dedication to helping those in need.
Sermons
Works of PeaceE. Johnson Acts 9:31-43
AeneasC. H. Spurgeon.Acts 9:32-43
LyddaDean Plumptre.Acts 9:32-43
Peter At LyddaD. Thomas, D. D.Acts 9:32-43
Peter Working MiraclesG. C. Heckman, D. D.Acts 9:32-43
Peter Working MiraclesSermons by the Monday ClubActs 9:32-43
Summarised ServiceJ. Parker, D. D.Acts 9:32-43
The Miraculous and the SupernaturalW. Clarkson Acts 9:32-43
Working Like ChristA. Maclaren, D. D.Acts 9:32-43
A Devoted WomanActs 9:36-43
Caring for OthersJ. Ruskin.Acts 9:36-43
DorcasJ. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.Acts 9:36-43
DorcasW. Jay.Acts 9:36-43
DorcasC. S. Robinson, D. D.Acts 9:36-43
Dorcas Raised to LifeJ. M. Durrell.Acts 9:36-43
Dorcas: the Lessons of Her Life and DeathS. S. TimesActs 9:36-43
Joppa or Yafa Means BeautyS. S. TimesActs 9:36-43
Noble Womanly ServiceH. W. Beecher.Acts 9:36-43
Power in the GospelMonday Club SermonActs 9:36-43
The Appropriate Duty and Ornament of the Female SexS. Miller, D. D.Acts 9:36-43
The Christian NeedlewomanT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.Acts 9:36-43
The Emphatic Mark of Divine Approbation Which Christianity Puts Upon Womanly KindnessP.C. Barker Acts 9:36-43
The Home Mission, a Call to Our TimeK. Gerok.Acts 9:36-43
The Poor Should be Cared ForC. H. Spurgeon.Acts 9:36-43
The Raising of DorcasR.A. Redford Acts 9:36-43
The Resurrection of Dorcas -- a TypeK. Gerok.Acts 9:36-43
The Useful are Sometimes Snatched Unexpectedly AwayS. Rutherford.Acts 9:36-43
The Work for Christian WomenChristian HeraldActs 9:36-43
Traits of a Noble WomanGreat ThoughtsActs 9:36-43
People
Aeneas, Ananias, Barnabas, Dorcas, Grecians, Judas, Lud, Peter, Saul, Simon, Tabitha
Places
Azotus, Caesarea, Damascus, Galilee, Jerusalem, Joppa, Judea, Lydda, Samaria, Sharon, Straight Street, Tarsus
Topics
Abounding, Actions, Acts, Almsdeeds, Alms-deeds, Always, Charitable, Charity, Constantly, Continually, Deeds, Devoted, Disciple, Disciples, Dorcas, Female, Full, Greek, Helping, Interpretation, Interpreted, Jaffa, Joppa, Kind, Kindness, Mercy, Named, Poor, Tabitha, Translated, Wholly, Works
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Acts 9:36

     5310   exploitation
     5448   poverty, attitudes to
     5449   poverty, remedies
     5765   attitudes, to people
     5876   helpfulness
     7027   church, purpose
     7925   fellowship, among believers
     8442   good works

Acts 9:36-37

     5297   disease

Acts 9:36-39

     5320   funeral
     8332   reputation
     8811   riches, attitudes to

Acts 9:36-41

     1416   miracles, nature of
     5743   widows

Acts 9:36-42

     5745   women

Library
'This Way'
'Any of this way.'--ACTS ix. 2 The name of 'Christian' was not applied to themselves by the followers of Jesus before the completion of the New Testament. There were other names in currency before that designation--which owed its origin to the scoffing wits of Antioch--was accepted by the Church. They called themselves 'disciples,' 'believers, 'saints,' 'brethren,' as if feeling about for a title. Here is a name that had obtained currency for a while, and was afterwards disused. We find it five times …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

A Bird's-Eye view of the Early Church
'So the Church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified; and, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied.'--ACTS ix. 31 (R.V.). A man climbing a hill stops every now and then to take breath and look about him; and in the earlier part of this Book of the Acts of the Apostles there are a number of such landing-places where the writer suspends the course of his narrative, in order to give a general notion of the condition of the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Grace Triumphant
'And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2. And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them hound unto Jerusalem. 3. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? 5. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Copies of Christ's Manner
'And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed.... 40. But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down and prayed; and, turning him to the body, said, Tabitha, arise.--ACTS ix. 34, 40. I have put these two miracles together, not only because they were closely connected in time and place, but because they have a very remarkable and instructive feature in common. They are both evidently moulded upon Christ's miracles; are distinct imitations of what Peter had …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts

Directions to Awakened Sinners.
Acts ix. 6. Acts ix. 6. And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do. THESE are the words of Saul, who also is called Paul, (Acts xiii. 9,) when he was stricken to the ground as he was going to Damascus; and any one who had looked upon him in his present circumstances and knew nothing more of him than that view, in comparison with his past life, could have given, would have imagined him one of the most miserable creatures that ever lived upon earth, and would have expected …
Philip Doddridge—Practical Discourses on Regeneration

Paul's First Prayer
First, our text was an announcement; "Behold, he prayeth." Secondly, it was an argument; "For, behold, he prayeth." Then, to conclude, we will try to make an application of our text to your hearts. Though application is the work of God alone, we will trust that he will be pleased to make that application while the word is preached this morning. I. First, here was AN ANNOUNCEMENT; "Go to the house of Saul of Tarsus; for behold, he prayeth." Without any preface, let me say, that this was the announcement …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

Paul a Pattern of Prayer
"Go and inquire for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth."--ACTS ix. 11. "For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting."--1 TIM. i. 16. God took His own Son, and made Him our Example and our Pattern. It sometimes is as if the power of Christ's example is lost in the thought that He, in whom is no sin, is not man as we are. Our Lord took Paul, a man …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Prov. 22:06 the Duties of Parents
"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."--Prov. 22:6. I SUPPOSE that most professing Christians are acquainted with the text at the head of this page. The sound of it is probably familiar to your ears, like an old tune. It is likely you have heard it, or read it, talked of it, or quoted it, many a time. Is it not so? But, after all, how little is the substance of this text regarded! The doctrine it contains appears scarcely known, the duty it puts …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times

"To Me to Live is Christ"
PHILIPPIANS i. 21. In connection with ACTS ix. 1--18. THERE is no more significant sign of the days in which we live than the interest society seems to be taking in the biographies of great men. Almost all the more popular recent books, for instance--the books which every one is reading and has to read--come under the category of biography; and, to meet the demand, two or three times in each season the market has to be supplied with the lives, in minute detail, of men who but for this would perhaps …
Henry Drummond—The Ideal Life

The Future of Christ's Kingdom First Group of Epistles the First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians Introduction to the Epistles of Paul +Epistolary Writings. + --The
STUDY VII THE FUTURE OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM FIRST GROUP OF EPISTLES THE FIRST AND SECOND EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS INTRODUCTION TO THE EPISTLES OF PAUL +Epistolary Writings.+--The New Testament is composed of twenty-seven books, twenty-one of which are Epistles. Of this latter number thirteen are ascribed to Paul. It is thus seen how largely the New Testament is made up of Epistles and how many of these are attributed to the Great Apostle. In the letters of men of great prominence and power of any …
Henry T. Sell—Bible Studies in the Life of Paul

The New Testament Text and Its History.
The history of the New Testament text naturally falls into two main divisions, that of the manuscript text, and that of the printed text. A few remarks will be added on the principles of textual criticism. See PLATES at the beginning of this book. [Transcriber's Note: Transcriptions of the Plates are at the end of this e-book.] I. THE MANUSCRIPT TEXT. 1. The preservation of the primitive text of the gospels from all essential corruptions, additions, and mutilations has already been shown …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Sharon. Caphar Lodim. The Village of those of Lydda.
Between Lydda and the sea, a spacious valley runs out, here and there widely spreading itself, and sprinkled with villages. The holy page of the New Testament [Acts 9:35] calls it Saron: and that of the Old calls the whole, perhaps, or some part of it, 'the plain of Ono,' Nehemiah 6:2, 11:35; 1 Chronicles 8:12... The wine of Sharon is of great fame, with which they mixed two parts water: and remarkable is that they say concerning the houses of Sharon. R. Lazar saith, "He that builds a brick house …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Caphar Tebi.
And this village neighboured upon Lydda, situate on the east of it. "R. Eleazar had a vineyard of four years' growth; on the east of Lydda, near Caphar Tebi." Of it there is this mention also:-- "They sometime brought a chest full of bones from Caphar Tebi, and they placed it openly in the entrance to Lydda. Tudrus the physician and the rest of the physicians go forth"--(namely, that they might judge, whether they were the bones of men or no; and thereby, whether they were to be esteemed clean or …
John Lightfoot—From the Talmud and Hebraica

Sources and Literature on St. Paul and his Work.
I. Sources. 1. The authentic sources: The Epistles of Paul, and the Acts of the Apostles 9:1-30 and 13 to 28. Of the Epistles of Paul the four most important Galatians, Romans, two Corinthians--are universally acknowledged as genuine even by the most exacting critics; the Philippians, Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians are admitted by nearly all critics; the Pastoral Epistles, especially First Timothy, and Titus, are more or less disputed, but even they bear the stamp of Paul's genius. On the coincidences …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

The Knight of God
Heinrich Suso Acts ix. 16 As the song of him who singeth, Playing on a harp of gold, So to me was Christ's evangel In the days of old. Thus across the lake of Constance Went I forth to preach His Word, And beside me sat the squire Of a noble Lord. None in all the ship so knightly, None so bravely dight as he-- "Tell me," I besought, "thine errand Yonder o'er the sea." "I go forth," he said, "to gather Many a knight and noble bold; They shall tilt at joust and tourney, Whilst fair eyes behold. …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Such, we May Believe, was that John the Monk...
21. Such, we may believe, was that John the Monk, whom the elder Theodosius, the Emperor, consulted concerning the issue of the civil war: seeing he had also the gift of prophecy. For that not each several person has a several one of those gifts, but that one man may have more gifts than one, I make no question. This John, then, when once a certain most religious woman desired to see him, and to obtain this did through her husband make vehement entreaty, refused indeed this request because he had …
St. Augustine—On Care to Be Had for the Dead.

Whether any Preparation and Disposition for Grace is Required on Man's Part?
Objection 1: It would seem that no preparation or disposition for grace is required on man's part, since, as the Apostle says (Rom. 4:4), "To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned according to grace, but according to debt." Now a man's preparation by free-will can only be through some operation. Hence it would do away with the notion of grace. Objection 2: Further, whoever is going on sinning, is not preparing himself to have grace. But to some who are going on sinning grace is given, as is …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether the Form of this Sacrament Is: "I Absolve Thee"?
Objection 1: It would seem that the form of this sacrament is not: "I absolve thee." Because the forms of the sacraments are received from Christ's institution and the Church's custom. But we do not read that Christ instituted this form. Nor is it in common use; in fact in certain absolutions which are given publicly in church (e.g. at Prime and Compline and on Maundy Thursday), absolution is given not in the indicative form by saying: "I absolve thee," but In the deprecatory form, by saying: "May …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

Whether one Ought to Dispute with Unbelievers in Public?
Objection 1: It would seem that one ought not to dispute with unbelievers in public. For the Apostle says (2 Tim. 2:14): "Contend not in words, for it is to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers." But it is impossible to dispute with unbelievers publicly without contending in words. Therefore one ought not to dispute publicly with unbelievers. Objection 2: Further, the law of Martianus Augustus confirmed by the canons [*De Sum. Trin. Cod. lib. i, leg. Nemo] expresses itself thus: "It is …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Beginning of the New Testament
[Illustration: (drop cap T) Coin of Thessalonica] Turn to the list of books given in the beginning of your New Testament. You will see that first come the four Gospels, or glimpses of the Saviour's life given by four different writers. Then follows the Acts of the Apostles, and, lastly, after the twenty-one epistles, the volume ends with the Revelation. Now this is not the order in which the books were written--they are only arranged like this for our convenience. The first words of the New Testament …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

The Doctrine of the Church i. Definition; Distinctions.
1. OLD TESTAMENT. 2. NEW TESTAMENT. 3. THE CHURCH; CHRISTENDOM; KINGDOM. II. THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH. 1. IN PROPHECY AND PROMISE. 2. HISTORICALLY FOUNDED. III. MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH. Conditions of Entrance; Characteristics. 1. REPENTANCE AND BAPTISM. 2. FAITH IN THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST. 3. REGENERATION. 4. PUBLIC CONFESSION OF CHRIST--BAPTISM. 5. ADHERENCE TO THE APOSTLES' DOCTRINE. 6. CHARACTERISTICS. IV. FIGURES UNDER WHICH THE CHURCH IS PRESENTED. 1. THE BODY OF CHRIST. 2. THE TEMPLE OF …
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible

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