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Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP001
Editor-in-Chief:
Professor C. David Garner, University of Nottingham, UK
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP001
Series Editors:
Professor Hongzhe Sun, University of Hong Kong, China
Professor Anthony Wedd, University of Melbourne, Australia
Professor Stefano L. Ciurli, University of Bologna, Italy
Editorial Advisor:
Professor Alison Butler, University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Edited by
Russ Hille
University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
Email: russ.hille@ucr.edu
Carola Schulzke
University of Greifswald, Germany
Email: carola.schulzke@uni-greifswald.de
and
Martin L. Kirk
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Email: mkirk@unm.edu
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP001 View Online
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Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP005
Preface
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, evidence was accumulating that molybde
num was not simply present in the enzyme xanthine oxidase from cow's milk
but that it was required for its activity and changed its oxidation state in the
course of the reaction with substrate. In a tour-de-force isotopic substitution
study reported in Nature in 1966, R.C. Bray and L.S. Meriwether demons
trated unequivocally that the EPR signals elicited by the enzyme upon treat
ment with xanthine arose from a molybdenum-containing active site. It is
a happy coincidence but altogether fitting that this volume marks the 50th
anniversary of this seminal work.
For many years, only five enzymes were recognized as possessing molyb
denum in their active sites: nitrogenase from bacteria such as Klebsiella
pneumoniae and Azotobacter vinelandii; xanthine oxidase from bovine milk
(and other vertebrate sources); aldehyde oxidase from vertebrate as well as
bacterial sources; the vertebrate sulfite oxidase; and the assimilatory nitrate
reductase from plants (and algae and fungi). That began to change in the
1980s with the demonstration by K. V. Rajagopalan that an organic cofac
tor accompanied the molybdenum in the active sites of these enzymes (with
the exception of nitrogenase), and with the contemporaneous discovery that
tungsten was also found in the active sites of enzymes in certain bacteria.
There are now several dozen molybdenum- and tungsten-containing
enzymes that have been crystallographically characterized, along with most
of the enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of the organic cofactor vari
ously known as molybdopterin, tungstopterin and pyranopterin. The active
site metal centres of these enzymes have proven to be fascinating and chal
lenging targets for synthetic inorganic chemists, and both enzymes and
synthetic models have proven fertile ground for the application of a range
of physicochemical and spectroscopic methods probing their physical and
electronic structures as well as their intrinsic reactivity. At present, well
v
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vi Preface
over 50 molybdenum- and tungsten-containing enzymes have been isolated
and characterized, and these have been found to catalyze a broad range of
oxidation-reduction reactions, and even reactions that (at least formally) do
not involve oxidation–reduction of substrate. These enzymes are found in
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP005
Dedication
It is all too fitting that these volumes dealing with the bioinorganic chemistry
of molybdenum and tungsten be dedicated to three outstanding chemists
whose contributions to the field over many years continues to inform, illumi-
nate and inspire: Richard H. Holm, C. David Garner and John H. Enemark.
Prof. Holm has over 500 research publications (cited over 35 000 times)
covering a wide range of nickel, iron and molybdenum chemistry (among
other transition metals). He is perhaps most widely recognized for studies,
beginning in the 1970s, that describe the synthesis and characterization
of iron-sulfur clusters. This work came to include modelling the M and P
clusters of nitrogenase, which perhaps provided the motivation to investi-
gate models of mononuclear molybdenum-containing enzymes. His molyb-
denum work achieved great success with the synthesis of MoO2 models for
enzymes of the sulfite oxidase, and later the DMSO reductase family, and the
characterization of their properties as oxygen atom transfer catalysts. A key
contribution was his use of bulky ligands to the metal that prevented µ-oxo
vii
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viii Dedication
dimerization, which had long stymied work in the field. He is Higgins Profes-
sor of Chemistry at Harvard University, a member of the National Academy
of Sciences and the recipient of many other awards.
Prof. Garner already had a strong track record in the synthesis of copper
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP007
Contents
1.1 I ntroduction 1
1.2 Overview 2
1.2.1 Pyranopterin Molybdenum Enzymes 2
1.2.2 Nitrogenase 8
1.3 Summary 9
Acknowledgements 10
References 10
ix
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x Contents
2.3.3 S pectroscopic Studies of SO and SO-Type
Enzymes 31
2.3.4 Active Site Electronic Structure
Contributions to Reactivity 33
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP009
3.1 I ntroduction 68
3.2 Principles of EPR Techniques and Application to
Mo/ W Enzymes 69
3.2.1 Basis of EPR Spectroscopy 69
3.2.2 EPR Properties of Mo and W Enzymes 72
View Online
Contents xi
3.3 g -Tensor Analysis for Mo/W Enzymes 75
3.3.1 g-Tensor for a d1 Configuration 75
3.3.2 Magneto-Structural Correlations in the
Mo-Enzyme Family 76
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xii Contents
4.3 E xperimental Aspects of XAS 137
4.3.1 Sample Preparation 140
4.3.2 Data Acquisition Strategies 142
4.3.3 Fluorescence Self-Absorption Effects 143
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP009
Contents xiii
Chapter 6 Nitrogen Fixation in Nitrogenase and Related
Small-Molecule Models: Results of DFT Calculations 223
Felix Tuczek
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xiv Contents
7.3 DMSO Reductase 289
7.4 Sulfite Oxidase 298
7.5 Xanthine Oxidase 306
7.6 Comparison of the Three Families 311
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-FP009
Chapter 1
1.1 Introduction
The first Gordon Research Conference on “Molybdenum and Tungsten
Enzymes” was held July 4–9 1999 at Plymouth State College (now Plym-
outh State University) in New Hampshire and was chaired by Ed Stiefel
and Russ Hille. This meeting proved to be a transformative one for our
field in that it provided an intellectual forum for molecular biologists, syn-
thetic chemists, enzymologists, theorists, crystallographers and spectros-
copists to converge, discuss their latest results and develop long-standing
relationships that would foster new collaborations that have allowed us to
understand the structure and function of Mo- and W-containing enzymes
as well as the intricate details of their catalytic mechanisms of activity.
1
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2 Chapter 1
These enzymes continue to be the subject of intense research efforts,
and this is a direct result of their unusual geometric and electronic struc-
tures, their key roles in the global C, N and S cycles, their pharmacologi-
cal importance, and their importance in human health. This volume will
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-00001
1.2 Overview
1.2.1 Pyranopterin Molybdenum Enzymes
With the sole exception of nitrogenase, the pyranopterin Mo (and W) enzymes
are the only metalloenzymes that utilize second-1,2 (and third-) row transition
metal ions to catalyze a myriad of redox transformations involving enzyme
substrates.3,4 The uniqueness of these enzymes is further underscored by the
fact that they possess the molybdenum cofactor (Moco, Figure 1.1),5,6 which
is comprised of a high-valent MoIV,V,VI (WIV,V,VI) ion coordinated by a unique
dithiolene ligand (the pyranopterin dithiolene). This dithiolene ligand is
connected to a pterin ring system by a pyran ring that may be in either a
closed (typical) or an open ring configuration. The pyranopterin dithiolene
(PDT) is a highly complex ligand (vide infra) that is unique to the mononu-
clear Mo (W) enzymes. The remarkable nature of this ligand is exemplified
by its potential for electronic flexibility, including changing its redox and/or
tautomeric state to exert additional control of the Mo redox potential.6 The
pyranopterin molybdenum enzymes have been historically divided into three
broad families: the sulfite oxidase (SO) family, the xanthine oxidase (XO) fam-
ily and the dimethylsulfoxide reductase (DMSOR) family of enzymes (Figure
1.2).5 This broad classification has been based on the coordination geometry
of their active sites, the nature of their respective protein folds and the type
and breadth of reactions that are catalyzed by the enzymes.
Figure 1.1
The molybdenum cofactor (Moco), comprised of a Mo ion bound to a
pyranopterin dithiolene (PDT) chelate. Note that the PDT shown here is
in the fully reduced “tetrahydro” oxidation state.5,6
View Online
Figure 1.2
Top: bond line drawings for the oxidized and reduced members of the
three canonical pyranopterin Mo enzyme families (SO, DMSOR and
XO). Bottom: active site coordination geometries for SO, DMSOR, and
XO as determined by X-ray crystallography.
View Online
4 Chapter 1
geometries that can be described by a well-defined distortion coordinate that
is related to the nature of PDT out-of-plane distortions that were revealed by
X-ray crystallography.6 This distortion coordinate was analyzed in the context of
DFT calculations that were performed on geometry-optimized PDT structures.
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-00001
The results suggest that differences in the nature of the PDT out-of-plane dis-
tortions are related to PDTs that adopt different oxidation states. Specifically,
the analysis suggests that biological PDTs may not all exist in the fully reduced
“tetrahydro” oxidation state, as has been previously thought.5 These research-
ers hypothesized that the PDT may also be present in two electron oxidized
“dihydro” forms.6 Remarkably, the observed PDT distortions can be associated
with specific enzyme families. For example, the PDT distortions observed for
XO family enzymes are consistent with the PDT being in the fully reduced “tet-
rahydro” oxidation state, while SO family PDTs adopt “dihydro” structures.
Interestingly, DMSOR family enzymes, which contain two PDTs coordinated
to Mo, appear to possess one PDT that displays an SO type distortion and one
PDT possessing an XO type distortion. The results are of interest in that they
suggest a link between enzyme function and the oxidation state(s) of the PDT.6
In support of this idea, the first structurally characterized oxomolybdenum
complex to incorporate a pyranopterin dithiolene ligand was found to possess
the ligand in the “dihydro” oxidation state.29 A combination of X-ray crystal-
lography and 1H NMR spectroscopy was used to show that this complex pos-
sessed a complete pyranopterin dithiolene ligand, and that reversible pyran
ring opening and closing may represent a dynamic process in pyranopterin
molybdenum enzymes. Although these addressed apparent relationships
between PDT geometric structure, oxidation state and enzyme function, our
understanding of how PDT electronic structure contributes to enzyme catalysis
remains to be determined.
From a spectroscopic and electronic structure viewpoint, the pyranopterin
molybdenum (and tungsten) containing enzymes are unique among metal-
loenzymes. This primarily derives from the terminal Mo-oxo ligation cou-
pled with the high oxidation states accessible to the metal ion during the
course of catalysis. This results in a large splitting of the t2g orbital set with
the Mo(xy) redox active orbital being well separated energetically from the
Mo–Ooxo dπ* antibonding orbitals.30 Thus, the Mo(v) ion possesses an (xy)1
configuration with the redox orbital oriented perpendicular to a Mo–Ooxo
vector30 and the Mo(iv) ion possesses a low-spin (xy)2 configuration with a
diamagnetic ground state. Spectroscopic studies probing the Mo ion in pyra-
nopterin Mo enzymes have not been trivial. This results from the fact that
the majority of pyranopterin Mo enzymes possess strongly absorbing flavin,
iron–sulfur and/or heme chromophores5 that mask the electronic absorp-
tion spectra associated with the Mo active sites. Furthermore, this problem
is exacerbated by the fact that the only relevant paramagnetic state is the
Mo(v) oxidation state, which represents an obligatory catalytic intermedi-
ate in the electron transfer regeneration half-reaction that progresses via
sequential one-electron transfers that interconvert the diamagnetic Mo(iv)
and Mo(vi) oxidation states. Thus, in order to use high resolution paramag-
netic probes of pyranopterin Mo enzyme active site electronic structure, it is
View Online
Figure 1.3
X-band EPR spectrum of the xanthine oxidase very rapid intermediate
generated with 2-hydroxy-6-methylpurine as reducing substrate. Data
were acquired at 150 K, 9.47 GHz and 10 mW microwave power. Note
the high value for g1, which has been used in conjunction with 33S
hyperfine analysis to indicate the presence of a highly covalent Mo=S
π bonding scheme in very rapid and, by inference, the oxidized Mo(vi)
form of the enzyme. Adapted with permission from ref. 31. Copyright
(1999) American Chemical Society.
View Online
6 Chapter 1
the very rapid intermediate (1) possesses an apical oxo and an equatorial
sulfido ligand that are oriented cis relative to one another,31 (2) possesses
a highly covalent Mo=S d–p π bonding interaction, (3) does not involve the
formation of an organometallic Mo–C bond in the catalytic cycle of the
Published on 30 September 2016 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/9781782628842-00001
enzyme40 and (4) possesses product bound to the Mo ion as the enolate tau-
tomer.40 The combination of computational, spectroscopic and reactivity
studies on xanthine oxidase very rapid has contributed greatly to our under-
standing of the reductive half-reaction in xanthine oxidase and related Mo
hydroxylase family enzymes.3 Of course, the xanthine oxidase very rapid
story is only one of many studies where paramagnetic spectroscopies have
proven to be crucial for developing a greater understanding of pyranopterin
molybdenum enzyme electronic structure contributions to reactivity.3,24
Diamagnetic probes of enzyme electronic structure have primarily involved
electronic absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopies. It is import-
ant to note that when spectroscopic studies on the enzymes can be directly
compared to analogous studies on small molecule analogs of their active
sites, tremendous insight into the relationships between electronic and geo-
metric structure contributions begins to emerge. This is due, in part, to the
fact that the small molecule analogs do not possess the competing chromo-
phores that are present in many of the enzymes, and they allow for specific
structural components found in the enzymes to be evaluated individually
(Figure 1.4). This has resulted in the detailed spectral probing of numer-
ous elegantly designed small molecules using electronic absorption spec-
troscopy, S K-edge XAS, resonance Raman and MCD spectroscopies.30,41–59
Spectroscopic studies on diamagnetic model compounds in the catalytically
relevant Mo(iv) and Mo(vi) oxidation states have also contributed greatly to
Figure 1.4
Specific structural components that are found in pyranopterin Mo
enzymes, which have also been incorporated into small-molecule
model systems for detailed spectroscopic studies.
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for approval and confirmation. And after they had prayed, they laid
their hands on them, in token of imparting to them the blessing and
the power of that divine influence which had inspired its previous
possessors to deeds so energetic and triumphant. The efficiency of
this prayer and benediction, in calling down divine grace on the
heads thus touched by the hands of the apostles, was afterwards
most remarkably demonstrated in the case of two of the seven, and
in the case of the first of them, almost immediately.
Genuine Hebrews.――By these are meant those who used the Hebrew language still in
their synagogues, as the only sacred tongue, and looked with much scorn on the Hellenists,
that is, those foreign Jews, who, from birth or residence in other lands, had learned the
Greek as their sole language in common life, and were thus obliged to use the Greek
translation, in order to understand the scriptures. This matter will have a fuller discussion in
another place. Lightfoot has brought a most amazing quantity of learned and valuable
illustration of this difference, from Talmudic literature. (Horae Hebraica et Talmudicae in Acts
vi. 1.)
Stephen, after thus being set apart for the service of the church,
though faithfully discharging the peculiar duties to which he was
called, did not confine his labors to the mere administration of the
public charities. The word of God had now so spread, under the
ministry of the apostles, that the number of the disciples in
Jerusalem was greatly enlarged, and that not merely from the lower
and ignorant orders; but a great number of the priests, who, in their
daily service in the temple, had been frequently unintentional hearers
of the word preached in its courts, now professed themselves the
submissive friends of the new faith. This remarkable increase excited
public attention more and more, and required redoubled exertions to
meet the increasing call for instruction. Stephen, therefore,
immediately entered boldly and heartily on this good work; and,
inspired by a pure faith, and the confidence of help from above, he
wrought among the people such miracles as had hitherto followed
only the ministry of the apostles. The bold actions of this new
champion did not fail to excite the wrath of the enemies of the cause
of Christ; but as the late decision of the Sanhedrim had been against
any further immediate resort to violent measures, his opponents
confined themselves to the forms of verbal debate for a while. As
Stephen was one of those Jews who had adopted the Greek
language and habits, and probably directed his labors more
particularly to that class of persons, he soon became peculiarly
obnoxious to those Hellenist Jews who still held out against the new
doctrine. Of the numerous congregations of foreign Jews that filled
Jerusalem, five in particular are mentioned as distinguishing
themselves by this opposition,――that of the freed-men, or captive
Jews once slaves in Rome, and their descendants,――that of the
Cyrenians,――of the Alexandrians,――the Cilicians and the Asians.
Some of the more zealous in all these congregations came out to
meet Stephen in debate, with the polished points of Grecian logic
which their acquaintance with that language enabled them to use
against him. But not all the combined powers of sacred and profane
literature availed any thing against their learned and inspired
opponent. Prepared beforehand, thoroughly, in all sorts of wisdom,
and borne on resistlessly, moreover, by that divine influence whose
movements they could see but could not understand, he foiled them
completely at all their own weapons, and exposed them, in their low
bigotry and stupidity, baffled and silenced by his single voice. But
among all the refinements and elegances with which their classical
knowledge had made them acquainted, they had failed to learn that
noblest effort of the rhetorical art, which is to know how to bear a fair
defeat in open debate, gracefully. These low-minded, half-renegade
bigots, burning with brutal rage for this defeat, which their base
behavior made more disgraceful, determined to find a means of
punishing him, which no logic nor rhetoric could resist. They found
men base enough for their vile purposes, and instructed them to
testify that they had heard him speak blasphemous words against
Moses and against God. On the strength of this heinous charge, they
made out to rouse some of the people, as well as the elders and the
scribes, to a similar hostile feeling; and coming upon him with a
throng of these, they seized him and dragged him away to the
Sanhedrim, to undergo the form of a trial. They then brought forward
their perjured witnesses, who testified only in vague terms of abuse,
“This man ceases not to speak blasphemous words against this holy
place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus, the
Nazarene, will destroy this place, and will do away with the customs
which Moses delivered to us.” This was, after all, a kind of
accusation which brought him more particularly under the invidious
notice of the Pharisees, whose leader had lately so decidedly
befriended the apostles; for that sect guarded with the most jealous
care all the minute details of their religion, and were ever ready to
punish, as a traitor to the national faith and honor, any one who
spoke slightingly, or even doubtingly, of the perpetuity of the law of
Moses, and its hallowed shrine. Perhaps there was no one of all the
sayings of Jesus himself, which had given deeper offense than his
remark about destroying the temple and re-building it in three days,
which his silly hearers took up seriously, and construed into a
serious, blasphemous insult of the chief glory of the Jewish name,
and bore it in mind so bitterly, as to throw it back on him, in his last
agonies on the cross. Such a saying, therefore, when laid to the
charge of Stephen, could not but rouse the worst feelings against
him, in the hearts of all his judges. But he, calm and undisturbed
amid the terrors of this trial, as he had been in the fury of the dispute,
bore such an aspect of composure, that all who sat in the council
were struck with his angelic look. The high priest, however, having
heard the accusation, solemnly called on the prisoner to say
“whether these things were so.” Stephen then, with a determination
to meet the charge by a complete exhibition of his views of the
character and objects of the Jewish faith, ran over the general
history of its rise and progress, and of the opinions which its
founders and upholders had expressed concerning the importance
and the perpetuity of those types and forms, and of the glorious
temple which was their chief seat, when compared with the
revelation to be expected through the prophet promised to them by
God and foretold by Moses. Warming as he went on, he quoted the
poetical words of Isaiah, on the dwelling-place of the Almighty, as not
being confined to the narrow bounds of the building which was to
them an object of such idolatrous reverence, as the sole place of
Jehovah’s abode, but as being high in the heavens, whence his
power and love spread their boundless grasp over sea and land, and
all nations that dwelt beneath his throne. As the words of the prophet
of the fire-touched lips rolled from the voice of Stephen, they kindled
his soul into an ecstacy of holy wrath; and in open scorn of their
mean cruelty, he broke away from the plan of his discourse, bursting
out into burning expressions of reproach and denunciation, which
carried their rage away beyond all bounds of reason. Conscious of
their physical power to avenge the insult, the mob instantly rose up,
and hurried him away from the court, without regard to the forms of
law; and taking him without the city, they stoned him to death, while
he invoked on them, not the wrath, but the mercy of their common
God. In such prayers, gloriously crowning such labors and
sufferings, he fell asleep, commending his spirit to the hands of that
Lord and Savior, whom it was his exalted honor to follow, first of all,
through the bitter agonies of a bloody death.
the persecution.
The most proper person for this responsible charge, was the great
leader of the apostolic band; and Peter, therefore, taking the task
readily upon himself, went through all the churches, to give them the
advantages of the minute personal ministry of a chief apostle, who
might organize them, and instruct the disciples in their peculiar
duties as members of a new religious community. On this tour of
duty, passing down from the interior towards the sea-coast, he came
to Lydda, about forty or fifty miles from Jerusalem, and about twelve
from the sea. Here there was a company of the faithful, whom he
visited, to instruct them anew, and to enlarge their numbers, by his
preaching and miracles. A particular case is recorded as having
occurred here, which displayed both the compassion of Peter and
his divine power to heal and strengthen. Among the friends of Christ
whom he visited here, was an invalid, whose name, Aeneas, shows
him to have been a Hellenist. This man had for the long period of
eight years been deprived of the use of his limbs, by a palsy, which,
during that tedious interval, confined him to his bed. Peter, on seeing
him, said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals thee. Arise, and make thy
bed for thyself.” The command to spread and smooth the couch,
which he now quitted in health, was given, that he might show and
feel, at once, how fully strength was restored to his hands as well as
his feet. This miracle soon became known, not only to the citizens of
Lydda, but also to the people inhabiting the extensive and fertile
plain of Sharon, which stretched to the northward of Lydda, along the
coast, from Joppa to Caesarea, bounded on the west by the
highlands of Samaria. The effect of this display of power and
benevolence, was such, on their minds, that, without exception, they
professed their faith in Christ.
Lydda.――This was a place of far more importance and fame, than would be supposed
from the brief mention of its name in the apostolic narrative. It is often mentioned in the
writings of the Rabbins, under the name of ( לודLudh,) its original Hebrew name, and was
long the seat of a great college of Jewish law and theology, which at this very period of
Peter’s visit was in its most flourishing state. This appears from the fact that Rabbi Akiba,
who raised the school to its greatest eminence, was contemporary with the great Rabban
Gamaliel, who bears an important part in the events of the apostolic history. (The data of
this chronological inference I find in Lightfoot.) It is easy to see, then, why so important a
seat of Jewish theology should have been thought deserving of the particular notice and
protracted stay of Peter, who labored with remarkable earnestness and effect here, inspired
by the consciousness of the lasting and extensive good, that would result from an
impression made on this fountain of religious knowledge. The members of the college,
however, did not all, probably, profess themselves followers of Christ.
The New Testament name Lydda, (Λυδδα,) by which Josephus also mentions it, is only
so much changed from the Hebrew Ludh, as was necessary to accommodate it to the
regular forms and inflexions of the Greek language. Lightfoot well refutes the blunder of
many modern geographers who make the two names refer to different places. This learned
author is remarkably full in the description of this place, and is very rich in references to the
numerous allusions which are made to it in the Talmudic writings. See his Centuria
Chorographica, (Chapter 16,) prefixed to Horae Hebraica et Talmudicae in Matthew.
Aeneas.――This name is unquestionably Greek, which seems to show the man to have
been a Hellenist; and that he was already a believer in Christ, would appear from the fact of
Peter’s finding him among the brethren there.
Joppa, now called Jaffa.――This was from very early times a place of great importance,
from the circumstance of its being the nearest seaport to Jerusalem. It is mentioned in
reference to this particular of its situation, in 2 Chronicles ii. 17, where it is specified (in
Hebrew יפוJapho) as the port to which the cedar timber from Lebanon should be floated
down in rafts, to be conveyed to Jerusalem for building the temple. It stood within the
territories of the tribe of Dan, according to Joshua xix. 46, and lies about East-North-east
from Jerusalem. Strabo, (xvi.) in describing it, refers to it as the scene of the ancient
Grecian fable of Andromeda rescued from the sea-monster by Perseus. He describes its
site as “quite elevated,――so much so, indeed, that it was a common saying that Jerusalem
might be seen from the place; the inhabitants of which city use it as their seaport, in all their
maritime intercourse.” Josephus mentions that it was added to the dominions of Herod the
Great by Augustus. Its present appearance is thus described by travelers.
Dorcas.――This is the Greek translation of the old Hebrew ( צביTsebi,) in the Aramaic
dialect of that age, changed into ( תביתאTabitha,) in English, “gazelle,” a beautiful animal of
the antelope kind, often mentioned in descriptions of the deserts of south-western Asia, in
which it roams; and not unfrequently the subject of poetical allusion. The species to which it
is commonly supposed to belong, is the Antilopa Dorcas of Prof. Pallas, who named it on
the supposition that it was identical with this animal, called by the Greeks, Δορκας, (Dorkas,)
from Δερκο, (Derko,) “to look,” from the peculiar brightness of “its soft black eye.”
The apostles had now, with great zeal and efficiency, preached
the gospel of Jesus Christ to the worshipers of the true God,
beginning at Jerusalem, and spreading the triumphs of his name to
the bounds of the land of Israel. But in all their devotion to their
Master’s work, they had never had a thought of breaking over the
bounds of the faith of their fathers, or of making their doctrine
anything else than a mere completion or accompaniment to the law
of Moses; nor did they imagine that they were ever to extend the
blessings of the gospel to any who did not bow down to all the
tedious rituals of the ancient covenant. The true power of their Lord’s
parting command, “Go and teach all nations,” they had never felt;
and even now, their great chief supposed that the change of heart
and remission of sins, which he was commissioned to preach, were
for none but the devout adherents of the Jewish faith. A new and
signal call was needed, to bring the apostles to a full sense of their
enlarged duties; and it is among the highest honors vouchsafed to
Peter, that he was the person chosen to receive this new view of the
boundless field now opened for the battles and triumphs of the cross.
To him, as the head and representative of the whole band of the
apostles, was now spread out, in all its moral vastness and its
physical immensity, the coming dominion of that faith, whose little
seed he was now cherishing, with but a humble hope; but whose
stately trunk and giant branches were, from that small and low
beginning, to stretch, in a mighty growth, over lands, and worlds, to
him unknown. Thus far he had labored with a high and holy zeal, in a
cause whose vastness he had never appreciated,――every moment
building up, unwittingly, a name for himself, which should outlast all
the glories of the ancient covenant; and securing for his Master a
dominion which the religion of Moses could never have reached. He
had never had an idea, that he with his companions was founding
and spreading a new religion;――to purify the religion of the law and
the prophets, and to rescue it from the confusion and pollutions of
warring sectaries, was all that they had thought of; yet with this end
in view, they had been securing the attainment of one so far above
and beyond, that a full and sudden view of the consequences of their
humble deeds, would have appalled them. But though the mighty
plan had never been whispered nor dreamed of, on
earth,――though it was too immense for its simple agents to endure
its full revelation at once,――its certain accomplishment had been
ordained in heaven, and its endless details were to be fully learned
only in its triumphant progress through uncounted ages. But, limited
as was the view which the apostles then had of the high destiny of
the cause to which they had devoted themselves, it was yet greatly
extended from the low-born notions with which they had first followed
the steps of their Master. They now no longer entertained the vagary
of a worldly triumph and a worldly reward; they had left that on the
mount where their Lord parted from them, and they were now
prayerfully laboring for the establishment of a pure spiritual kingdom
in the hearts of the righteous. To give them a just idea of the exalted
freedom to which the gospel brought its sons, and to open their
hearts to a Christian fellowship, as wide as the whole human family,
God now gave the apostolic leader an unquestionable call to tell to
the world the glad tidings of salvation, for all men, through a new and
living way, by change of heart and remission of sins. The incidents
which led to this revelation are thus detailed.
JERUSALEM,
from the Latin Convent.
Luke xxi. 24.
The Italian cohort.――The word Σπειρα (Speira) I translate “cohort,” rather than “legion,”
as the older commentators did. Jerome translates it “cohortem,” and he must have known
the exact technical force of the Greek word, and to what Latin military term it corresponded,
from his living in the time when these terms must have been in frequent use. Those who
prefer to translate it “legion,” are misled by the circumstance, that Tacitus and other writers
on Roman affairs, mention a legion which had the distinctive appellation of “the Italian
Legion;” while it has been supposed that these ancient authors make no mention of an
Italian cohort. But the deeply learned Wetstein, with his usual vast classical research, has
shown several such passages, in Arrian and others, in which mention is made of an Italian
cohort; and in Gruter’s inscriptions, quoted by Kuinoel, there is an account of “a volunteer
cohort of Italian soldiers in Syria;” and Palestine was at this time included with Syria, under
the presidency of Petronius. This inscription, too, justifies my remark as to the high
character of those who served in this corps. “Cohors militum Italicorum voluntaria” seems to
imply a body of soldiers of a higher character than the ordinary mercenary mass of the
army, being probably made up of volunteers from respectable families of Italy, who chose to
enlarge their knowledge of the world by foreign military service, in this very honorable
station of life-guard to the Roman governor, as Doddridge and others suppose this to have
been. (See Doddridge on this passage; also C. G. Schwartz in Wolff, Cur. Philology in loc.)
It is considered also as fairly proved that the “Italian legion” was not formed till a much later
period; so that it is rendered in the highest degree probable and unquestionable, that this
was a cohort, and, as Schwartz and Doddridge prove, not a mere ordinary cohort, making
the tenth part of a common legion of 4200, but a distinct and independent corps, attached to
no legion, and devoted to the exclusive honorable service above mentioned. (See
Bloomfield, Kuinoel, Rosenmueller, &c.)
Devout.――Some have tried hard to make out that Cornelius was what they call “a
proselyte of the gate;” that is, one who, though not circumcised, nor conforming to the
rituals generally, yet was an observer of the moral law. But Lardner very fully shows that
there were not two sorts of proselytes; all who bore that name fully conforming to the Jewish
rituals, but still called “strangers,” &c.; because, though admitted to all the religious
privileges of the covenant, they were excluded from the civil and political privileges of Jews,
and could not be freeholders. Cornelius must then have been a mere Gentile. (See Lardner
in his life of Peter; also Kuinoel and Bloomfield.)