And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.

And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles.

And when they were come, and had assembled the church, they related what great things God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

And having arrived, and having brought together the assembly, they related to them all that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations.

And when they had come, and had assembled the church, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

and having come and gathered together the assembly, they declared as many things as God did with them, and that He did open to the nations a door of faith;

Upon their arrival they called the Church together and proceeded to report in detail all that God, working with them, had done, and how He had opened for the Gentiles the door of faith.

And when they came there, and had got the church together, they gave them an account of all the things which God had done through them, and how he had made open a door of faith to the Gentiles.

When they had arrived, and had gathered the church together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations.

And when they had arrived and had gathered together the church, they related what great things God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

After their arrival, they gathered the church together, and gave an account of all that God had helped them to do, and especially how he had opened to the Gentiles the door of faith;

After they had called the Church together. As those who return from an embassage used to give an account of their acts, so Paul and Barnabas declared to the Church all the sum of their voyage, that it may thereby appear what good success they had, and how faithfully they behaved themselves in their office; and also that they may exhort the faithful to give thanks to God, as the thing itself gave them large matter; [1] therefore Luke saith, Not that they did extol the things which they themselves had done, but whatsoever things the Lord had done by them. It is word for word with them; but according to the phrase of the Hebrew tongue, it is all one as if it had been said, in them, or by them, or towards them, or simply to them, in the dative case. Therefore Luke doth not say sun autois, but meta auton; which I say for this cause, lest any unskillful man ascribe some part of the praise to Paul and Barnabas, as if they had been partners with God in the work; whereas he doth rather make him the only author of all those famous facts which they had done. Luke addeth immediately after, that the Lord had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles; for though they were sent unto the Gentiles, yet the strangeness [novelty] of the matter causeth them to wonder not a little; and not only the sudden change did make the Jews astonished, but also because it was to them as it were a monster, that unclean men, and such as were strangers [2] from the kingdom of God, should be mixed with the holy seed of Abraham, that they might both together make one and the same Church of God. They are now taught by the event itself, that it was not for nothing that there were apostles sent to them. Moreover, it is said that the door of faith was set open to the Gentiles, not only because the gospel was preached to them with the external voice, but because, being illuminated by the Spirit of God, they were called effectually unto the faith. The kingdom of heaven is indeed set open to us by the external preaching of the gospel; but no man entereth in save he to whom God reacheth out his hand; no man draweth near unless he be drawn inwardly by the Spirit. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas show and prove by the effect that their calling was approved and ratified by God, because the faith of the Gentiles was, as it were, a seal engraven by the hand of God to establish the same, as Paul saith, (Romans 16:25; 2-Corinthians 3:7.)

Footnotes

1 - "Amplum materiam," ample materials.

2 - "Impuros et alienos," impure men, aliens.

They rehearsed - Acts 11:4. They related what had happened; their dangers and their success. This they did because they had been sent out by the church, and it was proper that they should give an account of their work; and because it furnished a suitable occasion of gratitude to God for his mercy.
All that God had done - In protecting, guarding them, etc. All was traced to God.
Had opened the door of faith - Had furnished an opportunity of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, 1-Corinthians 16:9; 2-Corinthians 2:12.

Had gathered the Church together - The Church by which they had been sent on this very important and successful mission.
They rehearsed all that God had done with them - Not what they had done themselves; but what God made them the instruments of working.
And how he had opened the door of faith - How God by his providence and grace had made a way for preaching Christ crucified among the heathen; and how the heathen had received that Gospel which, through faith in Christ Jesus, was able to save their souls.

And when they were come,.... To Antioch:
and had gathered the church together: which was in that place, and who came together at their request; for as they were sent out by them, they judged it proper to call them together; and give them an account of the issue of their work they were recommended by them to the grace of God to fulfil: and being come together at their usual place of meeting,
they rehearsed all that God had done with them; and by them, as instruments; what grace and strength he had given them to preach the Gospel; what numbers of souls were everywhere converted by it; what miracles were wrought by them for the confirmation of it; and what persecutions and sufferings they had endured for the sake of it; and what deliverances were vouchsafed unto them:
and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles; the phrase, "the door of faith", seems to be Jewish; it is to be met with in Jewish writings: it is said (f),
"there are two women found in the world, that express the praise of God, so as all the men of the world have not; and who are they? Deborah and Hannah: Hannah, according to 1-Samuel 2:2 "there is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside thee" and all proclaim that she , "opens the door of faith to the world", as Acts 14:8 "he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the beggar from the dunghill, lo, the door of faith; to set them among princes", lo, the faith that is above.''
The sense here seems to be, that God had given an opportunity to the apostles to preach the doctrine of faith unto the Gentiles, and the Gentiles had had an opportunity of hearing and embracing it; God had opened the mouths of his ministers to preach to them, and he had opened their hearts to attend unto it, and receive it; for it may be understood of his giving of them the grace of faith, by which they received Christ, and his Gospel, into their hearts: so a like phrase is used by the Targumist on Jeremiah 33:6 who paraphrases the words thus;
"behold, I will bring unto them healing and redemption, and I will heal them, and I will reveal, or "open to them", , "the door of repentance";''
that is, I will give them repentance: so here, when God is said to open the door of faith to the Gentiles, the sense is, that he had given the grace of faith to them, which came by hearing the word of the Gospel, which he sent them; and gave them encouragement to believe in Christ; so the phrase a door of hope is used in Hosea 2:15.
(f) Zohar in Leviticus. fol. 8. 3. & in Deut. fol. 109. 4. Vid. ib. in Genesis. fol. 60. 2. & 68. 2. Vid. Raziel, fol. 39. 2.

when they had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, &c.--As their call and mission had been solemn and formal, in the presence of and by the Church as well as the Holy Ghost, they dutifully, and no doubt with eager joy, convened the church and gave their report of "all that God had done with them," that is, by and for them.
and how--in particular.
he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles--to such even as before had not been proselytes. (See on Acts 11:21; and on the language, see 1-Corinthians 16:9; 2-Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3). The ascribing directly to God of such access to the Gentiles is to be noted.