{4} And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.

(4) The church of Antioch, the new Jerusalem of the Gentiles, was extraordinarily called.

People's New Testament

11:20,21 Cyrene. A great Grecian city of North Africa, with a large Jewish population. These preachers were Jews from Cyprus and Cyrene who had been converted at Jerusalem.

Spoke to the Grecians. Greeks in the Revised Version. The preachers were Grecians, i.e. Hellenistic Jews (foreign Jews), but those to whom they spoke were Greeks, Gentiles, not of Jewish blood at all, I suppose devout Greeks who had turned from idols to seek the purer worship of Jehovah (see PNT Ac 10:2). These preachers, without knowledge of the call of the Gentiles, led by the spirit of Christ, preached the gospel to these Gentile seekers for light, with the result that a great multitude believed and turned to the Lord.

Wesley's Notes

11:20 Some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene - Who were more accustomed to converse with the Gentiles. Who coming into Antioch - Then the capital of Syria, and, next to Rome and Alexandria, the most considerable city of the empire. Spake to the Greeks - As the Greeks were the most celebrated of the Gentile nations near Judea, the Jews called all the Gentiles by that name. Here we have the first account of the preaching the Gospel to the idolatrous Gentiles. All those to whom it had been preached before, did at least worship one God, the God of Israel.

Scofield Reference Notes

Margin Grecians

Hellenists, i.e. Grecian Jews.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene-(see on [1993]Lu 23:26); as Lucius, mentioned in Ac 13:1.

spake unto the Grecians-rather, "the Greeks," that is, uncircumcised Gentiles (as the true reading beyond doubt is). The Gospel had, from the first, been preached to "the Grecians" or Greek-speaking Jews, and these "men of Cyprus and Cyrene" were themselves "Grecians." How, then, can we suppose that the historian would note, as something new and singular (Ac 11:22), that some of the dispersed Christians preached to them?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:19-24 The first preachers of the gospel at Antioch, were dispersed from Jerusalem by persecution; thus what was meant to hurt the church, was made to work for its good. The wrath of man is made to praise God. What should the ministers of Christ preach, but Christ? Christ, and him crucified? Christ, and him glorified? And their preaching was accompanied with the Divine power. The hand of the Lord was with them, to bring that home to the hearts and consciences of men, which they could but speak to the outward ear. They believed; they were convinced of the truth of the gospel. They turned from a careless, carnal way of living, to live a holy, heavenly, spiritual life. They turned from worshipping God in show and ceremony, to worship him in the Spirit and in truth. They turned to the Lord Jesus, and he became all in all with them. This was the work of conversion wrought upon them, and it must be wrought upon every one of us. It was the fruit of their faith; all who sincerely believe, will turn to the Lord, When the Lord Jesus is preached in simplicity, and according to the Scriptures, he will give success; and when sinners are thus brought to the Lord, really good men, who are full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, will admire and rejoice in the grace of God bestowed on them. Barnabas was full of faith; full of the grace of faith, and full of the fruits of the faith that works by love.