Luke, the writer of Luke-Acts, tells the story of Tabitha, a
disciple brought back to life after prayer from the apostle
Peter. After she is washed and laid out in an upper room,
Peter takes her hand and commands her to get up (Acts
9:36-42).

In seven verses, Luke presents Tabitha as much loved, and
the miracle of her return to life leads many to believe (v. 42)
. Luke’s terse account contains praise, humor, honor,
sadness, joy and insights on the faith of the early church.
Tabitha is so beloved and so essential to the life of her
believing community in Joppa, a port city near the heart of
modern Tel Aviv, that others cannot imagine life without her.
Tabitha simply cannot stay dead. Her faithful community will not permit it!
Throughout Luke’s story, Tabitha remains silent. Luke speaks for her. In what could be considered a humorous touch, her only living actions are opening her eyes, seeing Peter, sitting up, being helped up by him, and being presented alive to the believers and widows (vv. 40-41).
Luke Honors Tabitha in the Bible
By silencing her, Luke honors her. Others give her accolades
and loudly mourn her death (v. 39). Perhaps the best and
truest praise one receives comes extemporaneously from
others. This certainly applies to the treatment of Tabitha in
the Bible.

Luke introduces her with a double name: Tabitha and
Dorcas (v. 36). The Aramaic and Greek mean gazelle.
Perhaps the doubling shows her ministry to Jewish and
Hellenistic believers, something noted earlier in Acts 6:1 and
emphasized from chapter 10 on; if so, the placement of
Tabitha’s story serves as a transition in the fulfillment of
Jesus’ command to his disciples to “be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth” (Acts 1:. Perhaps her name indicates a woman
of energy, grace, beauty and quick movements.


Luke praises her as a disciple (mathetria) who was always
doing good and helping the poor (Acts 9:36); her specific
designation as disciple proves that Jesus had female
disciples. In fact, there are three places where the words
disciple or disciples include women: Acts 9:1-2, 36;
18:24-26b.
Luke indicates that Tabitha took God’s commands about
society’s most vulnerable seriously. (“Do not oppress the
widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor.” Zechariah
7:10. See also Deuteronomy 24:17, 20-21; Ezekiel 22:7;
James 1:27.) Looking after the marginalized is one of God’s
characteristics, too, for God is shown in Psalm 146:8-9 as
lifting up those bowed down, watching over the alien and
sustaining the fatherless and widow.
Luke is generally quite selective with his praise, heightening
the value of the accolades given to Tabitha in the Bible. In
addition to Tabitha, Luke-Acts commends a few other
notable characters. Consider these examples: Luke
describes Zechariah and Elizabeth as upright in the sight of
God (Luke 1:6), Joseph as a good and upright man from
Arimathea (Luke 23:50-51) and Barnabas as a good man and
full of the Holy Spirit and faith (Acts 11:24).
Acts 9 highlights Luke’s characteristic writing style with its
balance of opposites. Luke pairs Tabitha’s story of dying and
being brought back to life with that of Aeneas, who is healed
by Peter after being bedridden for eight years (vv. 32-35).

Neither Tabitha nor Aeneas seeks a miracle. While visiting
Lydda, Peter sees Aeneas and says, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ
heals you” (v. 34); concerning Tabitha’s death, the disciples
of Joppa urge Peter to “please come at once!” (v. 38). Acts
9:1-31 tells of Saul’s conversion and verses 32-43 close and
balance the chapter with stories about Peter; like Peter, Saul
becomes a great apostle of the faith. Seen another way, Acts
9 contains a man’s miraculous conversion and a woman’s
miraculous restoration to life.

The Miracle of Tabitha in the Bible
Luke records the miracle simply. It seems to happen quickly.
Peter clears the upper room, perhaps because he’s
distracted by the widows’ noisy grief (v. 40)! Alone with the
dead body, he gets down on his knees, prays, and turns to
the dead woman. Speaking to her he says, “Tabitha, get
up” (v. 40). And she does!

Peter calls in the believers and widows and gives her back to
them, alive. One can imagine the plethora of emotions—joy,
wonder, amazement, awe, thanksgiving and even doubt—as
everybody crowds in the upper room to confirm for
themselves that Tabitha really is healed and alive!
Luke concludes Tabitha’s story with more silences, muzzling
both Tabitha and Peter. Peter says nothing about the miracle and Tabitha says nothing about what it’s like being dead.
Instead, Luke sums up the reactions of all concerned by
stating a fact—her return to life became known all over
Joppa—and its result—that many people believed in the
Lord because of it (v. 42).

Luke then carries on with Peter’s visit to the centurion
Cornelius’ home in Caesarea (Acts 10) but remains silent
about Tabitha’s life. However, Luke’s silence again
compliments her, for it acknowledges the obvious. We
already know her character. We know what happens. This
remarkable woman simply carries on doing good for the
poor and serving her friends, the widows, by making them
stylish robes.

www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/tabitha-in-the-bible/

yo bro (dgr8est) .. got your mail.. gon get to you this week by HIS grace..