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Internet of Things

George Mastorakis
Constandinos X. Mavromoustakis
Evangelos Pallis Editors
Beyond the
Internet of
Things
Everything Interconnected
Internet of Things
Technology, Communications and Computing
Series editors
Giancarlo Fortino, Rende (CS), Italy
Antonio Liotta, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11636
Jordi Mongay Batalla George Mastorakis
•
Evangelos Pallis
Editors
Beyond the Internet

of Things
Everything Interconnected
123
Editors
Jordi Mongay Batalla Constandinos X. Mavromoustakis
National Institute of Telecommunications Department of Computer Science
Warsaw University of Nicosia
Poland Nicosia
Cyprus
George Mastorakis
Department of Commerce and Marketing Evangelos Pallis
Technological Educational Institute of Crete Technological Educational Institute of Crete
Crete Crete
Greece Greece
ISSN 2199-1073 ISSN 2199-1081 (electronic)

Internet of Things
ISBN 978-3-319-50756-9 ISBN 978-3-319-50758-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-50758-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016959252
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made.
Printed on acid-free paper
This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To Sara, whose uncertain smile makes us so
happy
To my son Nikos, who always makes me

proud
George Mastorakis
To my wife Afrodyte for her unconditional

understanding and support
To Vasiliki and Meletios for the time I did not

spend with them, working for a book that they
will never read
Evangelos Pallis
Contents
Part I Challenges Beyond the Internet of Things

Context-Aware Systems: Technologies and Challenges in Internet
of Everything Environments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Everton de Matos, Leonardo Albernaz Amaral and Fabiano Hessel
Enabling User Context Utilization in the Internet Communication
Protocols: Motivation, Architecture and Examples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Yu Lu
Security Challenges of the Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Musa G. Samaila, Miguel Neto, Diogo A.B. Fernandes,
Mário M. Freire and Pedro R.M. Inácio
Part II Technologies for Connecting Everything

A Novel Machine to Machine Communication Strategy Using
Rateless Coding for the Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Boulos Wadih Khoueiry and M. Reza Soleymani
Energy-Efficient Network Architecture for IoT Applications . . . . . . . . . . 119
P. Sarwesh, N. Shekar V. Shet and K. Chandrasekaran
ID-Based Communication for Access to Sensor Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Mariusz Gajewski, Waldemar Latoszek, Jordi Mongay Batalla,
George Mastorakis, Constandinos X. Mavromoustakis
and Evangelos Pallis
QoS/QoE in the Heterogeneous Internet of Things (IoT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Krzysztof Nowicki and Tadeus Uhl
vii
viii Contents
Part III Applicability of Interconnecting Everything

Integration of Internet of Everything (IoE) with Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Sarbani Roy and Chandreyee Chowdhury
Multimodal Low-Invasive System for Sleep Quality Monitoring
and Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Fábio Manoel Franca Lobato, Damares Crystina Oliveira de Resende,
Roberto Pereira do Nascimento, André Luis Carvalho Siqueira,
Antonio Fernando Lavareda Jacob, Jr. and Ádamo Lima de Santana
On Real Time Implementation of Emotion Detection Algorithms
in Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Sorin Zoican
Recognizing Driving Behaviour Using Smartphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Prokopis Vavouranakis, Spyros Panagiotakis, George Mastorakis,
Constandinos X. Mavromoustakis and Jordi Mongay Batalla
Part IV New Horizons: Large Scenarios

Cloud Platforms for IoE Healthcare Context Awareness
and Knowledge Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Alireza Manashty and Janet Light Thompson
Survey on Technologies for Enabling Real-Time Communication
in the Web of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Piotr Krawiec, Maciej Sosnowski, Jordi Mongay Batalla,
Constandinos X. Mavromoustakis, George Mastorakis
and Evangelos Pallis
Crowd-Driven IoT/IoE Ecosystems: A Multidimensional Approach . . . . 341
Xenia Ziouvelou, Panagiotis Alexandrou,
Constantinos Marios Angelopoulos, Orestis Evangelatos,
Joao Fernandes, Nikos Loumis, Frank McGroarty, Sotiris Nikoletseas,
Aleksandra Rankov, Theofanis Raptis, Anna Ståhlbröst
and Sebastien Ziegler
Improving Quality of Life with the Internet of Everything . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Despina T. Meridou, Maria-Eleftheria Ch. Papadopoulou,
Andreas P. Kapsalis, Panagiotis Kasnesis, Athanasios I. Delikaris,
Charalampos Z. Patrikakis, Iakovos S. Venieris and Dimitra I. Kaklamani
Introduction
The networked connection of people, things, processes and data is called the
Internet of Everything (IoE). It provides high revenues to many companies due to
the increase of work efficiency, as well as to the increase of security and comfort
of the workers. The sector-specific infrastructures, where the IoE is successfully
implemented are smart grid, critical infrastructure management and smart meters,
among others. Nonetheless, the increase of revenues is going to multiply in public
and private sectors due to IoE deployment together with a big contribution to the
well-being of people. IoE is based on near Internet ubiquity and includes three types
of connections: machine-to-machine, person-to-machine and person-to-person.
Machine-to-machine is closely related to security, including civil security (e.g.,
security in the road, disaster alert, etc.) and military security. Person-to-machine
communication brings an unquestionable increase of well-being in home automa-
tion systems but also is fundamental for intelligent parking, patient monitoring and
disaster response, among others. At last, person-to-person connection is already
changing the inter-personal relations, which are becoming more multimedia and
located in the social networks. IoE will increase the scenarios of person-to-person
networked communication as, for example, telework, networked learning and
telemedicine.
The future of the implementation of the IoE depends on the effective solution to
a number of technical challenges that this paradigm introduces. These challenges
include sensor capabilities improvement and sensor miniaturization (many hard-
ware companies as Intel and Qualcomm are increasing the research and production
of improved sensors and tiny chips for the application in all the aspects of our life),
Big Data treatment and efficient remote data management (by introducing new
remote management oriented architectures), as well as the open and secure com-
position of processes, which may be easily implemented into the IoE scenarios.
Some initiatives try to build IoE from scratch (e.g., some infrastructures for smart
cities proposed in China), but the normal trend is to group together specific use
cases of the IoE, cloud computing and all-as-a-service communication frameworks.
In fact, the approach of IoE is to find the potential benefits of the interaction
of the existing infrastructure, in order to build extensive ecosystems for increasing
ix
x Introduction
the number of services and their value. The backbone of the IoE is the sum of the
existing technologies: fiber and mobile high-speed access to the Internet, GPS,
multimedia devices (video cameras, end users’ terminals), wired and wireless
sensor networks, cloud computing. The management of the IoE should be dis-
tributed at different layers. Privacy and authorization and authentication should be
managed at the application level (i.e., communication between processes). Instead,
highly resource requesting security processes should be provided at the network
level due to rather low complexity required for sensors and things. All the features
related to security and privacy should be controlled by rules and norms at different
levels: international and national law, Internet operator’s practices, rules of com-
panies, so the security and privacy behavior of the IoE will be the interaction of
such rules and norms. Other management and control functionalities will be
inserted in the IoE processes in such a way that there will be no difference between
processes giving service out of the networked environment (i.e., to the end users)
and inside. At last, the high degree of management distribution will be seen as
self-capability of IoE management.
In this context, the major subjects of the proposed book cover modeling, analysis
and efficient management of information in IoE applications and architectures. It
addresses the major new technological developments in the field and will reflect
current research trends, as well as industry needs. This book comprises a good
balance between theoretical and practical issues, covering case studies, experience
and evaluation reports and best practices in utilizing IoE applications. It also pro-
vides technical/scientific information about various aspects of IoE technologies,
ranging from basic concepts to research-grade material, and including future
directions. Scientific research provided in these pages comes from different research
projects provided by eminent scientists, one of these projects is IDSECOM project,
which is finalizing the activities just in these months.
The book is divided into four parts: (I) Challenges Beyond the Internet of
Things, (II) Technologies for Connecting Everything, (III) Applicability of
Interconnecting Everything, and (IV) New Horizons: Large Scenarios. In Part I,
motivation and challenges of the internet of everything are exposed under the
examples of context-awareness and security enhancement. Part II exposes new
technologies in all levels: macro, micro and nano for implementing energy-efficient
and high-quality communication between devices. At higher level, the Internet of
Everything opens new applications thanks to the connectivity with the cloud and
ubiquitous of sensors. Novel applications are presented in Part III, whereas Part IV
presents extended platforms for connecting everything, including access to cloud,
individual processes (e.g., security), and human interaction.

George Mastorakis
Evangelos Pallis
Part I
Challenges Beyond the Internet of Things
Context-Aware Systems: Technologies
and Challenges in Internet of Everything
Environments
Everton de Matos, Leonardo Albernaz Amaral and Fabiano Hessel
Abstract The Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Everything (IoE) paradigms
have emerged in the last years, thus generating new challenges in the pervasive
computing area. IoT is a computing paradigm that has been recognized for allowing
the connection of the physical and virtual worlds by giving processing power to the
daily “things”. IoE goes beyond the IoT by breaking the barrier of just “things”. In
IoE, the people, data and processes also make part of the connected world. Context
awareness has becoming an important feature in IoT and IoE scenarios. Automatic
decision making, sensitivity to context, automatic notification to the user, just to
name a few, are some examples of situations where a context-aware system is needed
in these environments where the characteristics of the data sources are undergoing
constant change. In this chapter we present the context-aware definitions and
architecture in IoE and it evolution from IoT. Moreover, we present the
context-aware life-cycle phases, which is the process done in order to have context
information. In addition, we also analyze the current context-aware approaches of
IoT/IoE systems, and present some challenges related to context-aware IoE systems.
1 Introduction
In the last years a computing paradigm called Internet of Things (IoT) has gained
significant attention. The basic idea of IoT is the pervasive presence around us of a
variety of things or objects (e.g., RFID tags, sensors, etc.) that cooperate with their
neighbors to reach common goals [3]. By embedding mobile networking and
information processing capability into a wide array of gadgets and everyday items
E. de Matos (✉) ⋅ L.A. Amaral ⋅ F. Hessel

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
e-mail: everton.matos.001@acad.pucrs.br
L.A. Amaral
e-mail: leonardo.amaral@acad.pucrs.br
F. Hessel
e-mail: fabiano.hessel@pucrs.br
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 3

J.M. Batalla et al. (eds.), Beyond the Internet of Things,
Internet of Things, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-50758-3_1
4 E. de Matos et al.
enabling new forms of communication between people and things, and between
things themselves, the Internet of Things has been adding new dimensions to the
world of information and communication technology [5]. It promises to create a
world where all the objects around us are connected to the Internet and commu-
nicate with each other with minimum human intervention.
Beyond the IoT, the concept of Internet of Everything (IoE) has also gained
prominence in network and communication scenarios. In addition to the “Things”,
IoE connects people, data, and processes in networks of billions or even trillions of
connections [18]. These connections create vast amounts of data, some of these data
that we never had access to before. When these data are analyzed and used intel-
ligently, the possibilities seem endless.
There is a common sense that the data providers in IoE environments will
generate a lot of data, and they will only be useful if we could analyze, interpret and
understand them [47]. In this sense, context-aware computing has played an
important role in tackling this challenge in previous paradigms, such as mobile and
pervasive computing, which lead us to believe that it would continue to be suc-
cessful in the IoE as well [39]. Mobile devices can be part of IoE scenarios and their
characteristics are constantly changing (e.g., status, location). Context-aware
approaches allow us to discover and store context information linked to these
devices. In this sense, context-awareness became a fundamental feature of IoE in
order to have a fully automated environment and improve the user’s Quality of
Experience (QoE) [31].
The concept of context is attached to the information that will be used to
characterize the situation of an entity. In this sense, a system becomes
context-aware if it uses the context in order to provide new information to user [2].
Taking into account these definitions, an IoE environment needs a context-aware
system to be aware of the environment in order to help the user by providing these
information in the most useful way. In the context-awareness area, there is a set of
methods to build context. These methods are organized in phases that the systems
must follow to produce context information that characterizes the context life-cycle
of an information [39].
The main contribution of this chapter is to present a discussion about the
context-aware systems technologies and challenges in IoE environments in order to
provide a view of what can be the best technologies to fit with the necessities of IoE
environments and what is the new trends in the area. We will also argue about the
context life-cycle, we will show a detailed view of all the phases and the most
useful technologies. In addition, we will identify some existing work related to
context-awareness in IoE environments and also how we can have a fully functional
platform respecting the requirements and challenges of context-aware systems in
IoE environments.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: Sect. 2 provides the con-
cepts of the IoT evolution into IoE. Section 3 provides a theoretical background
about context, we also present the context life-cycle definitions and techniques.
Section 4 provides an overview of the characteristics of the systems that produce
context information. Section 5 provides a study of some related work. Section 6
Context-Aware Systems: Technologies and Challenges … 5
shows how context is present in IoE environments, moreover we show the tech-
nologies and challenges involving this issue. We conclude this chapter with a
summary in Sect. 7.
2 From Internet of Things (IoT) to Internet

of Everything (IoE)
Internet of Things (IoT) is a novel computing paradigm that is rapidly gaining space
in scenarios of modern communication technologies. The idea of the IoT is the
pervasive presence of a variety of things or objects (e.g., RFID tags, sensors,
actuators, smart phones, smart devices, etc.), that are able to interact with each other
and cooperate with their neighbors to reach common goals through unique
addressing schemes and reliable communication media over the Internet [3, 21].
During the past decade, the IoT has gained significant attention in academia as
well as industry. The main reasons behind this interest are the capabilities that the
IoT will offer [27]. It promises to create a world where all the objects (also called
smart objects [30]) around us are connected to the Internet and communicate with
each other with minimum human intervention. The ultimate goal is to create “a
better world for human beings”, where objects around us know what we like, what
we want, what we need, and act accordingly without explicit instructions [17].
The Intranet is being extended to smart things [30] with a higher scalability,
pervasiveness, and integration into the Internet Core. This extension is leading to
reach a real IoT, where things are first class citizens in the Internet, and they do not
need to relay any more on a gateway, middleware, proxy, or broker. IoT drives
towards integrating everything into the Internet Core, this trend is the denominated
Internet of Everything (IoE). The integration of everything is motivated by the
market wish to have all processes remotely accessible through a uniform way [28].
The IoT idea implied other concepts, such as Internet of Service (IoS), Internet
of Everything (IoE), Web of Things (WoT), which of course represent the IoT.
When we consider the relations M2M (Man to Man), M2T (Man to Thing), M2P
(Man to People), P2P (People to People), and D2D (Device to Device), we ulti-
mately reach the IoE [49]. IoE is a new Internet concept that tries to connect
everything that can be connected to the Internet, where everything refers to people,
cars, televisions (TVs), smart cameras, microwaves, sensors, and basically anything
that has Internet-connection capability [1].
The IoE connects people, data, things, and processes in networks of billions or
even trillions of connections. These connections create vast amounts of data, some
of it data we’ve never had access before. When this data is analyzed and used
intelligently, the possibilities seem endless [18].
Today, less than 1% of things that could be connected are connected to the
Internet or intelligent systems. Projections show that by 2017, 3.5 billion people
will be connected to the Internet, 64% of them via mobile devices [13]. People and
connected things will generate massive amounts of data, an estimated 40 trillion
gigabytes, that will have a significant impact on daily life [1]. It will enable faster
response times to medical or public safety emergencies and save lives, it will
improve the quality of citizen life by providing direct and personal services from
the government, and it will uncover new information about how our cities work,
thus enabling city leaders to use resources more efficiently and save money while
providing superior services. There are three key ways in which the IoE will sig-
nificantly impact our lives, as described in the following examples [13]:
• The IoE will automate connections: Today, people must proactively connect to
the network or Internet via mobile devices like smartphones and tablets and to
other people on the network via social media websites. Citizens must proactively
call a certain phone number for an enterprise complaint or for an emergency.
Imagine if people were connected automatically to systems of services instead.
Wearable computers in clothing or watches, or sensors in pills that are swallowed,
could automatically send patient information to doctors and nurses. This would
allow a sick or an elderly person to manage his or her healthcare from home rather
than a hospital or nursing home, getting automatic reminders to take medicine or
immediate preventive care for changes in health status. For example, weight gain
in cardiac patients is often an early indicator of returning heart problems. Con-
nected scales from the home can be used to alert a doctor of a change in patient
weight so that quick action can be taken to prevent another heart attack.
• The IoE will enable fast personal communications and decision making:
Now imagine that intelligence is embedded within sensors or devices. This
means the device itself will filter out relevant information and even apply
analytics, so in the case of the connected scale, only when a certain threshold of
weight gain is crossed will doctors and nurses be alerted. This type of data not
only will enable faster, better decision making but also will help government
workers, doctors, and citizens more efficiently manage their time. Instead of
doctors searching through files or ordering a battery of tests, information would
be sent to them directly from patients to help make decisions. Patients will have
faster response times from doctors based on such highly personalized infor-
mation. This is another example of how the Internet of Everything will com-
pletely change the types of services that are offered and also how they are
delivered to citizens.
• The IoE will uncover new information: With the deployment of so many
sensors and other information-gathering devices, city managers will be able to
understand their city as never before. An interesting example is the use of
acoustic sensors that are calibrated to detect gunshots. Some cities in the United
States have deployed these sensors in areas of gun violence and discovered
some shocking information. Police departments had historically assumed that
residents called the police 80% of the time when shots were heard. These police
departments were operating on highly inaccurate information about the level of
gun violence in certain neighborhoods. With this new information, police can
now plan their patrols differently and better target areas to reduce gun violence.
Fig. 1 Internet growth is occurring in waves [32]
As things add capabilities like context awareness, increased processing power,

and energy independence, and as more people and new types of information are
connected, IoT becomes an Internet of Everything—a network of networks where
billions or even trillions of connections create unprecedented opportunities as well
as new risks (see Fig. 1, extracted from [32]).
IoE brings together people, process, data, and things to make networked con-
nections more relevant and valuable than ever before—turning information into
actions that create new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented economic
opportunity for businesses, individuals, and countries (see Fig. 2) [18]. To better
understand this definition, we must first break down IoE’s individual components.
• People: In IoE, people will be able to connect to the Internet in innumerable
ways. Today, most people connect to the Internet through their use of devices
(such as PCs, tablets, TVs, and smartphones) and social networks. As the
Internet evolves toward IoE, we will be connected in more relevant and valuable
ways. For example, in the future, people will be able to swallow a pill that
senses and reports the health of their digestive tract to a doctor over a secure
Internet connection. In addition, sensors placed on the skin or sewn into clothing
will provide information about a person’s vital signs. According to Gartner [32],
people themselves will become nodes on the Internet, with both static infor-
mation and a constantly emitting activity system.
• Data: With IoT, devices typically gather data and stream it over the Internet to a
central source, where it is analyzed and processed. As the capabilities of things
connected to the Internet continue to advance, they will become more intelligent
by combining data into more useful information. Rather than just reporting raw
data, connected things will soon send higher-level information back to machi-
nes, computers, and people for further evaluation and decision making. This
Fig. 2 The what, where, and how of the Internet of Everything
transformation from data to information in IoE is important because it will allow

us to make faster, more intelligent decisions, as well as control our environment
more effectively.
• Things: This group is made up of physical items like sensors, consumer devices,
and enterprise assets that are connected to both the Internet and each other. In
IoE, these things will sense more data, become context-aware, and provide more
experiential information to help people and machines make more relevant and
valuable decisions. Examples of “things” in IoE include smart sensors built into
structures like bridges, and disposable sensors that will be placed on everyday
items such as milk cartons [18].
• Process: Process plays an important role in how each of these entities—people,
data, and things—work with the others to deliver value in the connected world
of IoE. With the correct process, connections become relevant and add value
because the right information is delivered to the right person at the right time in
the appropriate way.
2.1 Architecture
Implementation of IoE environments is usually based on a standard architecture

derived from IoT. This architecture consists of several layers [5, 18]: from the data
Fig. 3 Layered architecture of Internet of Everything
acquisition layer at the bottom to the application layer at the top. Figure 3 presents
the generic architecture for IoE [3].
The two layers at the bottom contribute to data capturing while the two layers at
the top are responsible for data utilization in applications. Next, we present the
functionality of these layers [5]:
• Data providers layer: This layer consists of hardware components such as
sensor networks, embedded systems, RFID tags and readers or other IoE devices
in different forms. Moreover, in this layer is also present other components, like
people information, that is also an IoE entity that provides data to the envi-
ronment. These entities are the primary data sources deployed in the field. Many
of these elements provide identification and information storage (e.g. RFID
tags), information collection (e.g. sensor networks), information processing (e.g.
embedded edge processors), communication, control and actuation. However,
identification and information collection are the primary goals of these entities,
leaving the processing activities for the upper layers.
• Access gateway layer: The first stage of data handling happens at this layer. It
takes care of message routing, publishing and subscribing, and also performs
cross platform communication, if required.
• Middleware layer: This layer acts as an interface between the hardware layer at
the bottom and the application layer at the top. It is responsible for critical
functions such as device management and information management, and also
takes care of issues like data filtering, data aggregation, semantic analysis,
access control, and information discovery.
• Application layer: This layer at the top of the stack is responsible for the
delivery of various services to different users/applications in IoE environments.
The applications can be from different industry verticals such as: manufacturing,
logistics, retail, environment, public safety, healthcare, food and drug, etc.
2.2 Characteristics and Environments
IoT allows communication among very heterogeneous devices connected by a very

wide range of networks through the Internet infrastructure. IoT devices and
resources are any kind of device connected to Internet, from existing devices, such
as servers, laptops, and personal computers, to emerging devices such as smart
phones, smart meters, sensors, identification readers, and appliances [28].
In addition to the physical devices, IoT is also enriched with the cybernetic
resources and Web-based technologies. For that purpose, IoT is enabled with
interfaces based on Web Services such as RESTFul architecture and the novel
protocol for Constrained devices Applications Protocol (CoAP) [43]. These inter-
faces enable the seamless integration of the IoT resources with information systems,
management systems, and the humans. Reaching thereby a universal and ubiquitous
integration among human networks (i.e., society), appliance networks, sensor net-
works, machine networks, and, in definitive, everything networks [28].
Beside these devices, the People and Data (see Fig. 2) can also make part of this
connection, thus we have the IoE. IoE offers several advantages and new capa-
bilities for a wide range of application areas. For example, nowadays IoE is finding
applications for the development of Smart Cities, starting with the Smart Grid,
Smart Lighting and transportation with new services such as Smart Parking and the
Bicycle Sharing System [20] for building sustainable and efficiently smart
ecosystems [28].
The application of the IoE is not limited to high scale deployments such as the
locations in Smart Cities, elsewhere it can also be considered for consumer elec-
tronics, vehicular communications, industrial control, building automation, logistic,
retail, marketing, and healthcare [28].
3 Context-Aware Life-Cycle
Context is considered any information that can be used to characterize the situation
of an entity. Entity is a person, place, or computing device (also called thing) that is
relevant to the interaction between a user and an application, including the user and
the application themselves. A system is context-aware if it uses context to provide
relevant information and/or services to the user, where relevancy depends on the
user’s task [2, 34]. In this way, an IoE ecosystem requires a context-aware
mechanism to be aware of the environment situation in order to help the user in the
most useful way. In various cases, the context-aware becomes a feature of IoE
systems.
Different researchers have identified context types based of different perspec-
tives. Abowd et al. [2] introduced one of the leading mechanisms of defining
context types. They identified location, identity, time, and activity as the primary
context types. Further, they defined secondary context as the context that can be
found using primary context [39]. For example, given primary context such as a
person’s identity, we can acquire many pieces of related information such as phone
numbers, addresses, email addresses, etc. Some examples defined by [39] are:
• Primary context: Any information retrieved without using existing context and
without performing any kind of sensor data fusion operations (e.g. GPS sensor
readings as location information).
• Secondary context: Any information that can be computed using primary
context. The secondary context can be computed by using sensor data fusion
operations or data retrieval operations such as web service calls (e.g. identify the
distance between two sensors by applying sensor data fusion operations on two
raw GPS sensor values). Further, retrieved context such as phone numbers,
addresses, email addresses, birthdays, list of friends from a contact information
provider based on a personal identity as the primary context can also be iden-
tified as secondary context.
A set of methods is mandatory in order to obtain the context of an entity.
Furthermore, there is a set of actions, organized in phases, that characterizes the
context life-cycle of an information. Perera et al. [39] proposed a life-cycle and
explained how acquisition, modelling, reasoning, and distribution of context should
occur.
3.1 Context Acquisition
In acquisition process, context needs to be acquired from various information

sources. These sources can be physical or virtual devices. The techniques used to
acquire context can vary based on responsibility, frequency, context source, sensor
type, and acquisition process [39].
(1) Based on Responsibility: Context acquisition can be primarily accomplished
using two methods [40]: push and pull.
• Push: The physical or virtual sensor pushes data to the data consumer which
is responsible to acquiring sensor data periodically or instantly. Periodical or
instant pushing can be employed to facilitate a publish and subscribe model.
• Pull: The data consumers make a request from the sensor hardware peri-
odically or instantly to acquire data.
(2) Based on Frequency: There are two different types: Instant and Interval.
• Instant: These events occur instantly. The events do not span across certain
amounts of time. In order to detect this type of event, sensor data needs to be
acquired when the event occurs. Both push and pull methods can be
employed.
• Interval: These events span in a certain period of time. In order to detect this
type of event, sensor data needs to be acquired periodically. Both push and
pull methods can be employed.
(3) Based on Source: Context acquisition methods can be organized into three
categories [12].
• Acquire directly from sensor hardware: In this method, context is directly
acquired from the sensor by communicating with the sensor hardware and
related APIs. Software drivers and libraries need to be installed locally.
• Acquire through a middleware infrastructure: In this method, sensor (con-
text) data is acquired by middleware solutions. The applications can retrieve
sensor data from the middleware and not from the sensor hardware directly.
• Acquire from context servers: In this method, context is acquired from
several other context storage types (e.g. databases, web services) by dif-
ferent mechanisms such as web service calls.
(4) Based on Sensor Types: In general usage, the term ‘sensor’ is used to refer the
tangible sensor hardware devices. However, among the technical community,
sensors are referred as any data source that provides relevant context. There-
fore, sensors can be divided into three categories [26]: physical, virtual, and
logical.
• Physical sensors: These are the most commonly used type of sensors. These
sensors generate data by themselves. Most of the devices we use today are
equipped with a variety of physical sensors (e.g. temperature, humidity,
microphone, touch).
• Virtual sensors: These sensors do not necessarily generate data by them-
selves. Virtual sensors retrieve data from many sources and publish it as
sensor data (e.g. calendar, contact number directory, twitter statuses, email,
and chat applications). These sensors do not have a physical presence.
• Logical sensors (also called software sensors): They combine physical
sensors and virtual sensors in order to produce more meaningful informa-
tion. A web service dedicated to providing weather information can be
called a logical sensor.
(5) Based on Acquisition Process: Here are three ways to acquire context: sense,
derive, and manually provided.
• Sense: The data is sensed through sensors, including the sensed data stored
in databases (e.g. retrieve temperature from a sensor, retrieve appointments
details from a calendar).
• Derive: The information is generated by performing computational opera-
tions on sensor data. These operations could be as simple as web service
calls or as complex as mathematical functions running over sensed data (e.g.
calculate distance between two sensors using GPS coordinates).
• Manually provided: Users provide context information manually via pre-
defined settings options such as preferences (e.g. understanding that user
doesn’t like to receive event notifications between 10 pm to 6 am).
3.2 Context Modeling
Context modeling is organized in two steps [7]. First, new context information
needs to be defined in terms of attributes, characteristics, and relationships with
previously specified context. In the second step, the outcome of the first step needs
to be validated and the new context information needs to be merged and added to
the existing context information repository. Finally, the new context information is
made available to be used when needed.
The most popular context modeling techniques are surveyed in [11, 44]. These
surveys discuss a number of systems that have been developed based on the fol-
lowing techniques. Each technique has its own strengths and weaknesses.
(1) Key-Value Modelling: In the key-value each data has a key. The key-value
technique is an application oriented and application bounded technique that
suits the purpose of temporary storage such as less complex application con-
figurations and user preferences. It models context information as key-value
pairs in different formats such as text files and binary files. This is the simplest
form of context representation among all the other techniques. They are easy to
manage when they have smaller amounts of data. However, key-value mod-
elling is not scalable and not suitable to store complex data structures.
(2) Markup Scheme Modelling (Tagged Encoding): It models data using tags.
Therefore, context is stored within tags. This technique is an improvement over
the key-value modelling technique. The advantage of using markup tags is that
it allows efficient data retrieval. Markup schemes such as XML are widely used
in almost all application domains to store data temporarily, transfer data among
applications, and transfer data among application components. In contrast,
markup languages do not provide advanced expressive capabilities which allow
reasoning.
(3) Graphical Modelling: It models context with relationships. Some examples of
this modelling technique are Unified Modelling Language (UML) [45] and
Object Role Modelling (ORM) [36]. Actual low-level representation of the
graphical modelling technique could be varied. For example, it could be a SQL
database, noSQL database, etc. Further, as we are familiar with databases,

graphical modelling is a well-known, easy to learn, and easy to use technique.
Databases can hold massive amounts of data and provide simple data retrieval
operations, which can be performed relatively quickly. In contrast, the number
of different implementations makes it difficult with regards to interoperability.
(4) Object Based Modelling: Object based (or object oriented) concepts are used to
model data using class hierarchies and relationships. Object oriented paradigm
promotes encapsulation and re-usability. As most of the high-level program-
ming languages support object oriented concepts, modelling can be integrated
into context-aware systems easily. Object based modelling is suitable to be used
as an internal, non-shared, code based, run-time context modelling, manipu-
lation, and storage mechanism. Validation of object oriented designs is difficult
due to the lack of standards and specifications.
(5) Logic Based Modelling: Facts, expressions, and rules are used to represent
information about the context. Rules are primarily used to express policies,
constraints, and preferences. It provides much more expressive richness com-
pared to the other models discussed previously. Therefore, reasoning is possible
up to a certain level. Logic based modelling allows new high-level context
information to be extracted using low-level context.
(6) Ontology Based Modelling: The context is organized into ontologies using
semantic technologies. A number of different standards and reasoning capa-
bilities are available to be used depending on the requirement. A wide range of
development tools and reasoning engines are also available. However, context
retrieval can be computationally intensive and time consuming when the
amount of data is increased.
3.3 Context Reasoning
Context reasoning can be defined as a method of deducing new knowledge based

on the available context [8]. It can also be explained as a process of giving
high-level context deductions from a set of contexts [22]. Reasoning is also called
inferencing. Broadly the reasoning can be divided into three phases [35].
• Context pre-processing: This phase cleans the collected sensor data. Due to
inefficiencies in sensor hardware and network communication, collected data
may be not accurate or missing. Therefore, data needs to be cleaned by filling
missing values, removing outliers, validating context via multiple sources, and
many more.
• Sensor data fusion: It is a method of combining sensor data from multiple
sensors to produce more accurate, more complete, and more dependable
information that could not be achieve through a single sensor [24].
• Context inference: It is a method of generation of high-level context information
using lower-level context. The inferencing can be done in a single interaction or
in multiple interactions. For example in a situation where the context is repre-

sented as tuples (e.g. Who: Leonardo, What: walking: 1 km/h, Where: Porto
Alegre, When: 2016-01-05:11.30 am). This low-level context can be inferred
through a number of reasoning mechanisms to generate the final results. For
example, in the first iteration, longitude and latitude values of a GPS sensor may
be inferred as Rei do Cordeiro restaurant in Porto Alegre. In the next iteration
Rei do Cordeiro restaurant in Porto Alegre may be inferred as Leonardo’s
favourite restaurant. Each iteration gives more accurate and meaningful
information.
In [39], context reasoning techniques are classify into six categories: supervised
learning, unsupervised learning, rules, fuzzy logic, ontological reasoning, and
probabilistic reasoning.
(1) Supervised learning: In this category of techniques, we first collect training
examples. Then we label them according to the results we expect. Then we
derive a function that can generate the expected results using the training data.
Decision tree is a supervised learning technique where it builds a tree from a
dataset that can be used to classify data.
(2) Unsupervised learning: This category of techniques can find hidden structures
in unlabeled data. Due to the use of no training data, there is no error or reward
signal to evaluate a potential solution.
(3) Rules: This is the simplest and most straightforward method of reasoning. Rules
are usually structure in an IF-THEN-ELSE format. Rules are expected to play a
significant role in the IoE, where they are the easiest and simplest way to model
human thinking and reasoning in machines.
(4) Fuzzy logic: This allows approximate reasoning instead of fixed and crisp
reasoning. Fuzzy logic is similar to probabilistic reasoning but confidence
values represent degrees of membership rather than probability [42]. In tradi-
tional logic theory, acceptable truth values are 0 or 1. In fuzzy logic partial truth
values are acceptable. It allows real world scenarios to be represented more
naturally; as most real world facts are not crisp.
(5) Ontology based: It is based on description logic, which is a family of logic
based knowledge representations of formalisms. The advantage of ontological
reasoning is that it integrates well with ontology modelling. In contrast, a
disadvantage is that ontological reasoning is not capable of finding missing
values or ambiguous information where statistical reasoning techniques are
good at that. Rules can be used to minimize this weakness by generating new
context information based on low-level context.
(6) Probabilistic logic: This category allows decisions to be made based on
probabilities attached to the facts related to the problem. This technique is used
to understand occurrence of events. For example, it provides a method to bridge
the gap between raw GPS sensor measurements and high level information
such as a user destination, mode of transportation, calendar based observable
evidence such as user calendar, weather, etc.
3.4 Context Distribution
Finally, context distribution is a fairly straightforward task. It provides methods to

deliver context to the consumers. From the consumer perspective this task can be
called context acquisition. There are two methods that are commonly used in
context distribution [39]:
• Query: Context consumer makes a request in terms of a query, so the context
management system can use that query to produce results.
• Subscription (also called publish/subscribe): Context consumer can be allowed
to subscribe to a context management system by describing the requirements.
The system will then return the results periodically or when an event occurs. In
other terms, consumers can subscribe for a specific sensor or to an event.
4 Context-Aware Systems
Context-awareness involves acquisition of contextual information, modelling of

these information, reasoning about context, and distribution of context. A system
for context-awareness would provide support for each of these tasks. It would also
define a common model of context, which all agents can use in dealing with
context. Moreover, it would ensure that different agents in the environment have a
common semantic understanding of contextual information.
4.1 Architecture Overview
In terms of architecture, some authors have identified and comprehensively dis-

cussed some design principles related to context-aware systems [39]. We summa-
rize the findings below with brief explanations. This list is not intended to be
exhaustive. Only the most important design aspects are considered.
• Architecture layers and components: The functionalities need to be divided
into layers and components in a meaningful manner. Each component should
perform a very limited amount of the task and should be able to perform
independently up to a large extent.
• Scalability and extensibility: The component should be able to be added or
removed dynamically. For example, new functionalities (i.e. components)
should be able to be add without altering the existing components (e.g. Open
Services Gateway initiative). The component needs to be developed according
to standards across the solutions, which improves scalability and extensibility
(e.g. plug-in architectures).
• Application Programming Interface (API): All the functionalities should be

available to be accessed via a comprehensive easy to learn and easy to use API.
This allows the incorporation of different solutions very easily. Further, API can
be used to bind context management frameworks to applications. Interoper-
ability among different IoE solutions heavily depends on API and their usability.
• Mobility support: In the IoE, most devices would be mobile, where each one
has a different set of hardware and software capabilities. Therefore,
context-aware frameworks should be developed in multiple versions, which can
run on different hardware and software configurations (e.g. more capabilities for
server level software and less capabilities for mobile phones).
• Monitoring and detect event: Events play a significant role in the IoE, which is
complemented by monitoring. Detecting an event triggers an action autono-
mously in the IoE paradigm. This is how the IoE will help humans carry out
their day-to-day work easily and efficiently. Detecting events in real-time is a
major challenge for context-aware frameworks in the IoE paradigm.
4.2 Systems Features
The context-aware systems must have several features to deal with the context
information production. First we will introduce some of these features, and in the
Sect. 5 a comparison table of systems regarding these features will be shown. The
most important features are surveyed by Perera et al. [39] and explained in the
follow items:
(1) Modelling: It has been discussed in detail in Sect. 3.2. The following
abbreviations are used to denote the context modeling techniques employed
by the system: key-value modelling (K), markup Schemes (M), graphical
modelling (G), object oriented modelling (Ob), logic-based modelling (L),
and ontology-based modelling (On).
(2) Reasoning: It has been discussed in detail in Sect. 3.3. The following
abbreviations are used to denote the reasoning techniques employed by the
system: supervised learning (S), unsupervised learning (U), rules (R), fuzzy
logic (F), ontology-based (O), and probabilistic reasoning (P).
(3) Distribution: It has been discussed in detail in Sect. 3.4. The following
abbreviations are used to denote the distribution techniques employed by the
system: publish/subscribe (P) and query (Q).
(4) History and Storage: Storing context history is critical in both traditional
context-aware computing and IoE [16]. Historic data allows sensor data to be
better understood. Specifically, it allows user behaviors, preferences,
patterns, trends, needs, and many more to be understood. The symbol (✓) is
used to denote that context history functionality is facilitated and employed
by the system.
(5) Knowledge Management: Most of the tasks that are performed by IoE
systems solutions require knowledge in different perspectives, such as
knowledge on sensors, domains, users, activities, and many more. Knowl-
edge can be used for tasks such as automated configuration of sensors to IoE
system, automatic sensor data annotation, reasoning, and event detection.
The symbol (✓) is used to denote that knowledge management functionality
is facilitated and employed by the system in some perspective.
(6) Event Detection: IoE envisions many types of communication. Most of
these interactions are likely to occur based on an event. An occurrence of
event is also called an event trigger. Once an event has been triggered, a
notification or action may be executed. For example, detecting current
activity of a person or detecting a meeting status in a room, can be con-
sidered as events. Mostly, event detection needs to be done in real-time.
However, events such as trends may be detected using historic data. The
symbol (✓) is used to denote that event detection functionality is facilitated
and employed by the system in some perspective.
(7) Level of Context Awareness: Context-awareness can be employed at two
levels: low (hardware) level and high (software) level. At the hardware level,
context-awareness is used to facilitate tasks such as efficient routing, mod-
elling, reasoning, storage, and event detection [25]. The software level has
access to a broader range of data and knowledge as well as more resources,
which enables more complex reasoning to be performed. The following
abbreviations are used to denote the level of context awareness facilitated
and employed by the system: high level (H) and low level (L).
(8) Data Source Support: There are different sources that are capable of pro-
viding context. The (P) denotes that the solution supports only physical
sensors. Software sensors (S) denotes that the solution supports either virtual
sensors, logical sensors or both. The (A) denotes that the solution supports all
kinds of data sources (i.e. physical, virtual, and logical). The (M) denotes that
the solution supports mobile devices.
(9) Quality of Context: It denotes the presence of conflict resolution func-
tionality using (C) and context validation functionality using (V). Conflict
resolution is critical in the context management domain [19]. Context vali-
dation ensures that collected data is correct and meaningful. Possible vali-
dations are checks for range, limit, logic, data type, cross-system
consistency, uniqueness, cardinality, consistency, data source quality, secu-
rity, and privacy.
(10) Data Processing: Are denoted the presence of context aggregation func-
tionality using (A) and context filter functionality using (F). Context filter
functionality makes sure that the reasoning engine processes only important
data. Filtering functionality can be presented in different solutions with in
different forms: filter data, filter context sources, or filter events. Aggregation
can just collect similar information together. This is one of the simplest forms
of aggregation of context.
(11) Dynamic Composition: IoE solutions must have a programming model that
allows dynamic composition without requiring the developer or user to
identify specific sensors and devices. Software solutions should be able to
understand the requirements and demands on each situation, then organize
and structure its internal components according to them. The symbol (✓)
denotes the presence of dynamic composition functionality at the system in
some form.
(12) Real-Time Processing: Most of the interactions are expected to be processed
in real-time in IoE. This functionality has been rarely addressed by the
research community in the context-aware computing domain. The symbol
(✓) denotes the presence of real-time processing functionality in some form.
(13) Registry Maintenance and Lookup Services: The (✓) symbol is used to
denote the presence of registry maintenance and lookup services function-
ality in the system. This functionality allows different components such as
context sources, data fusion operators, knowledge bases, and context con-
sumers to be registered.
5 Related Work
Some systems provide context-aware functions to IoT and IoE environments. This
Section presents some examples of these systems and a brief review about their
context-aware features based on systems features presented at Sect. 4.2.
Tables 1 and 2 presents a comparison between systems with context-aware
features. The items (features) used for the comparison are: (1) Modelling,
(2) Reasoning, (3) Distribution, (4) History and Storage, (5) Knowledge Manage-
ment, (6) Event Detection, (7) Level of Context Awareness, (8) Data Source
Support, (9) Quality of Context, (10) Data Processing, (11) Dynamic Composition,
Table 1 Context life-cycle IoE system (1) (2) (3)

phases implemented in IoE
systems Hydra K, On, Ob R, O Q
COSMOS Ob R Q
SALES M R Q
C-Cast M R P, Q
CoMiHoc Ob R, P Q
MidSen K R P, Q
CARISMA M R Q
ezContext K, Ob R Q
Feel@Home G, On O P, Q
Table 2 Context features implemented in IoE systems

IoE system (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)
Hydra ✓ ✓ ✓ H P V – – – –
COSMOS – – ✓ H P – A ✓ – ✓
SALES – – ✓ L P – F – – ✓
C-Cast ✓ – ✓ H A – – – – ✓
CoMiHoc – ✓ ✓ H A V – – – –
MidSen – ✓ ✓ H P – – – – ✓
CARISMA – – – H M C – – – –
ezContext ✓ ✓ ✓ H A – A – – ✓
Feel@Home – ✓ ✓ H A – – – – ✓
(12) Real-Time Processing, and (13) Registry Maintenance and Lookup Services.
We only analyzed systems that provide details of these features in the literature. The
definition of each item is given at the Sect. 4.2.
Hydra [4] is a system that comprises a Context-Aware Framework that is
responsible for connecting and retrieving data from sensors, context management
and context interpretation. A rule engine called Drools [29] has been employed as
the core context reasoning mechanism. COSMOS [14] is a system that enables the
processing of context information in ubiquitous environments. COSMOS consists
of three layers: context collector (collects information), context processing (derives
high level information), and context adaptation (provides context access to appli-
cations). Therefore, COSMOS follows distributed architecture which increases the
scalability of the system.
SALES [15] is a context-aware system that achieves scalability in context dis-
semination. The XML schemes are used to store and transfer context. C-Cast [41] is
a system that integrates WSN into context-aware systems by addressing context
acquisition, dissemination, representation, recognizing, and reasoning about context
and situations. The data history can be used for context prediction based on expired
context information.
CoMiHoc [46] is a framework that supports context management and situation
reasoning. CoMiHoc architecture comprises six components: context provisioner,
request manager, situation reasoner, location reasoner, communication manager,
and On-Demand Multicast Routing Protocol (ODMRP). MidSen [37], as C-Cast, is
a context-aware system for WSN. MidSen is based on Event-Condition-Action
(ECA) rules. The system proposes a complete architecture to enable context
awareness in WSN.
CARISMA [9] is focused on mobile systems where they are extremely dynamic.
Adaptation is the main focus of CARISMA. Context is stored as application profiles
(XML based), which allows each application to maintain meta-data. The framework
ezContext [33] provides automatic context life cycle management. The ezContext
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residents in Jerusalem who were from Cilicia, and join with them in
the study of the law and the weekly worship of God. What part he
took in these animated and angry discussions, is not known; but his
well-known power in argument affords good reason for believing,
that the eloquence and logical acuteness which he afterwards
displayed in the cause of Christ, were now made use of, against the
ablest defenders of that same cause. His fierce spirit, no doubt, rose
with the rest in that burst of indignation against the martyr, who
fearlessly stood up before the council, pouring out a flood of
invective against the unjust destroyers of the holy prophets of God;
and when they all rushed upon the preacher of righteousness, and
dragged him away from the tribunal to the place of execution, Saul
also was consenting to his death; and when the blood of the martyr
was shed, he stood by, approving the deed, and kept the clothes of
them who slew him.
♦ “Pharasaic” replaced with “Pharisaic”
his persecuting character.
The very active share which Saul took in this and the subsequent
cruelties of a similar nature, is in itself a decided though terrible proof
of that remarkable independence of character, which was so
distinctly displayed in the greatest events of his apostolic career.
Saul was no slave to the opinions of others; nor did he take up his
active persecuting course on the mere dictation of higher authority.
On the contrary, his whole behavior towards the followers of Jesus
was directly opposed to the policy so distinctly urged and so
efficiently maintained, in at least one instance, by his great teacher,
Gamaliel, whose precepts and example on this subject must have
influenced his bold young disciple, if any authority could have had
such an effect on him. From Gamaliel and his disciples, Saul must
have received his earliest impressions of the character of Christ and
his doctrines; for it is altogether probable that he did not reach
Jerusalem until some time after the ascension of Christ, and there is
therefore no reason to suppose that he himself had ever heard or
seen him. Nevertheless, brought up in the school of the greatest of
the Pharisees, he would receive from all his teachers and
associates, an impression decidedly unfavorable, of the Christian
sect; though the uniform mildness of the Pharisees, as to vindictive
measures, would temper the principles of action recommended in
regard to the course of conduct to be adopted towards them. The
rapid advance of the new sect, however, soon brought them more
and more under the invidious notice of the Pharisees, who in the life-
time of Jesus had been the most determined opposers of him and
his doctrines; and the attention of Saul would therefore be constantly
directed to the preparation for contest with them.
Stephen’s murder seems to have unlocked all the persecuting

spirit of Saul. He immediately laid his hand to the work of
persecuting the friends of Jesus, with a fury that could not be allayed
by a single act. Nor was he satisfied with merely keeping a watchful
eye on everything that was openly done by them; but under authority
from the Sanhedrim, breaking into the retirement of their homes, to
hunt them out for destruction, he had them thrown into prison, and
scourged in the synagogues, and threatened even with death; by all
which cruelties he so overcame the spirit of many of them, that they
were forced to renounce the faith which they had adopted, and
blaspheme the name of Christ in public recantations. This furious
persecution soon drove them from Jerusalem in great numbers, to
other cities. Samaria, as well as the distant parts of Judea, are
mentioned as their places of refuge, and not a few fled beyond the
bounds of Palestine into the cities of Syria. But even these distant
exiles were not, by their flight into far countries, removed from the
effects of the burning zeal of their persecutor. Longing for an
opportunity to give a still wider range to his cruelties, he went to the
great council, and begged of them such a commission as would
authorize him to pursue his vindictive measures wherever the
sanction of their name could support such actions. Among the
probable inducements to this selection of a foreign field for his
unrighteous work, may be reasonably placed, the circumstance that
Damascus was at this time under the government of Aretas, an
Arabian prince, into whose hands it fell for a short time, during which
the equitable principles of Roman tolerance no longer operated as a
check on the murderous spite of the Jews; for the new ruler, anxious
to secure his dominion by ingratiating himself with the subjects of it,
would not be disposed to neglect any opportunity for pleasing so
powerful and influential a portion of the population of Damascus as
the Jews were,――who lived there in such numbers, that in some
disturbances which arose a few years after, between them and the
other inhabitants, ten thousand Jews were slain unarmed, while in
the public baths, enjoying themselves after the fatigues of the day,
without any expectation of violence. So large a Jewish population
would be secure of the support of Aretas in any favorite measure.
Saul, well knowing these circumstances, must have been greatly
influenced by this motive, to seek a commission to labor in a field
where the firm tolerance of Roman sway was displaced by the baser
rule of a petty prince, whose weakness rendered him subservient to
the tyrannical wishes of his subjects. In Jerusalem the Roman
government would not suffer anything like a systematic destruction
of its subjects, nor authorize the taking of life by any religious
tribunal, though it might pass over, unpunished, a solitary act of mob
violence, like the murder of Stephen. It is perfectly incontestable
therefore, that the persecution in Jerusalem could not have extended
to the repeated destruction of life, and that passage in Paul’s
discourse to Agrippa; which has been supposed to prove a plurality
of capital punishments, has accordingly been construed in a more
limited sense, by the ablest modern commentators.
Kuinoel on Acts xxv. 1, 10, maintains this fully, and quotes other authorities.
“It seems to some a strange business, that Paul should have had the Christians whipped
through the synagogues. Why, in a house consecrated to prayer and religion, were
sentences of a criminal court passed, and the punishment executed on the criminal? This
difficulty seemed so great, even to the learned and judicious Beza, that in the face of the
testimony of all manuscripts, he would have us suspect the genuineness of the passage in
Matthew x. 17, where Christ uses the same expression. Such a liberty as he would thus
take with the sacred text, is of course against all modern rules of sacred criticism. For what
should we do then with Matthew xxiii. 34, where the same passage occurs again? Grotius,
to explain the difficulty, would have the word synagogues understood, not in the sense of
houses of prayer, but of civil courts of justice; since such a meaning may be drawn from the
etymology of the Greek word thus translated. (συναγωγη, a gathering together, or
assembling for any purpose.) But that too is a forced construction, for no instance can be
brought out of the New Testament, where the word is used in that sense, or any other than
the common one. What then? We cannot be allowed to set up the speculations which we
have contrived to agree with our own notions, against accounts given in so full and clear a
manner. Suppose, for a moment, that we could find no traces of the custom of scourging in
the synagogues, in other writers; ought that to be considered doubtful, which is thus stated
by Christ and Paul, in the plainest terms, as a fact commonly and perfectly well known in
their time? Nor is there any reason why scourging in the synagogues should seem so
unaccountable to us, since it was a grade of discipline less than excommunication, and less
disgraceful. For it is made to appear that some of the most eminent of the wise, when they
broke the law, were thus punished,――not even excepting the head of the Senate, nor the
high priest himself.” (Witsius, § 1, ¶ xix.‒xxi.) Witsius illustrates it still farther, by the stories
which follow.
“But there are instances of flagellation in synagogues found in

other accounts. Grotius himself quotes from Epiphanius, that a
certain Jew who wished to revolt to Christianity, was whipped in the
synagogue. The story is to the following purport. ‘A man, named
Joseph, a messenger of the Jewish patriarch, went into Cilicia by
order of the patriarch, to collect the tithes and first-fruits from the
Jews of that province; and while on his tour of duty, lodged in a
house near a Christian church. Having, by means of this, become
acquainted with the pastor, he privately begs the loan of the book of
the gospels, and reads it. But the Jews, getting wind of this, were so
enraged against him, that on a sudden they made an assault on the
house, and caught Joseph in the very act of reading the gospels.
Snatching the book out of his hands, they knocked him down, and
crying out against him with all sorts of abuse, they led him away to
the synagogue, where they whipped him with rods.’
“Very much like this is the more modern story which Uriel Acosta
tells of himself, in a little book, entitled ‘the Pattern of Human Life.’
The thing took place in Amsterdam, about the year 1630. It seems
this Uriel Acosta was a Jew by birth, but being a sort of Epicurean
philosopher, had some rather heretical notions about most of the
articles of the Jewish creed; and on this charge, being called to
account by the rulers of the synagogue, stood on his trial. In the end
of it, a paper was read to him, in which it was specified that he must
come into the synagogue, clothed in a mourning garment, holding a
black wax-light in his hand, and should utter openly before the
congregation a certain form of words prescribed by them, in which
the offenses he had committed were magnified beyond measure.
After this, that he should be flogged with a cowskin or strap, publicly,
in the synagogue, and then should lay himself down flat on the
threshhold of the synagogue, that all might walk over him. How
thoroughly this sentence was executed, is best learned from his own
amusing and candid story, which are given in the very words, as
literally as they can be translated. ‘I entered the synagogue, which
was full of men and women, (for they had crammed in together to
see the show,) and when it was time, I mounted the wooden
platform, which was placed in the midst of the synagogue for
convenience in preaching, and with a loud voice read the writing
drawn up by them, in which was a confession that I really deserved
to die a thousand times for what I had done; namely, for my
breaches of the sabbath, and for my abandonment of the faith, which
I had broken so far as even by my words to hinder others from
embracing Judaism, &c. After I had got through with the reading, I
came down from the platform, and the right reverend ruler of the
synagogue drew near to me, and whispered in my ear that I must
turn aside to a certain corner of the synagogue. Accordingly, I went
to the corner, and the porter told me to strip. I then stripped my body
as low as my waist,――bound a handkerchief about my
head,――took off my shoes, and raised my arms, holding fast with
my hands to a sort of post. The porter of the synagogue, or sexton,
then came up, and with a bandage tied up my hands to the post.
When things had been thus arranged, the clerk drew near, and
taking the cowskin, struck my sides with thirty-nine blows, according
to the tradition; while in the mean time a psalm was chanted. After
this was over, the preacher approached, and absolved me from
excommunication; and thus was the gate of heaven opened to me,
which before was shut against me with the strongest bars, keeping
me entirely out. I next put on my clothes, went to the threshhold of
the synagogue and laid myself down on it, while the porter held up
my head. Then all who came down, stepped over me, boys as well
as old men, lifting up one foot and stepping over the lower part of my
legs. When the last had passed out, I got up, and being covered with
dust by him who helped me, went home.’ This story, though rather
tediously minute in its disgusting particulars, it was yet thought worth
while to copy, because this comparatively modern scene seemed to
give, to the life, the old fashion of ‘scourging in the synagogues.’”
his journey to damascus.
Thus equipped with the high commission and letters of the

supreme court of the Jewish nation, Saul, breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went on his way to
Damascus, where the sanction of his superiors would have the force
of despotic law, against the destined victims of his cruelty. The
distance from Jerusalem to this great Syrian city, can not be less
than 250 or 300 miles, and the journey must therefore have occupied
as many as ten or twelve days, according to the usual rate of
traveling in those countries. On this long journey therefore, Saul had
much season for reflection. There were indeed several persons in
his company, but probably they were only persons of an inferior
order, and merely the attendants necessary for his safety and speed
in traveling. Among these therefore, he would not be likely to find
any person with whom he could maintain any sympathy which could
enable them to hold much conversation together, and he must
therefore have been left through most of the time to the solitary
enjoyment of his own thoughts. In the midst of the peculiar fatigues
of an eastern journey, he must have had many seasons of bodily
exhaustion and consequent mental depression, when the fire of his
unholy and exterminating zeal would grow languid, and the painful
doubts which always come in at such dark seasons, to chill the
hopes of every great mind,――no matter what may be the character
of the enterprise,――must have had the occasional effect of exciting
repentant feelings in him. Why had he left the high and sacred
pursuits of a literary and religious life, in the refined capital of
Judaism, to endure the fatigues of a long journey over rugged
mountains and sandy deserts, through rivers and under a burning
sun, to a distant city, in a strange land, among those who were
perfect strangers to him? It was for the sole object of carrying misery
and anguish among those whose only crime was the belief of a
doctrine which he hated, because it warred against that solemn
system of forms and traditions to which he so zealously clung, with
all the energy that early and inbred prejudice could inspire. But in
these seasons of weariness and depression, would now occasionally
arise some chilling doubt about the certain rectitude of the stern
course which he had been pursuing, in a heat that seldom allowed
him time for reflection on its possible character and tendency. Might
not that faith against which he was warring with such devotedness,
be true?――that faith which, amid blood and dying agonies, the
martyr Stephen had witnessed with his very last breath? At these
times of doubt and despondency would perhaps arise the
remembrance of that horrible scene, when he had set by, a calm
spectator, drinking in with delight the agonies of the martyr, and
learning from the ferocity of the murderers, new lessons of cruelty. to
be put in practice against others who should thus adhere to the faith
of Christ. No doubt too, an occasional shudder of gloom and
remorse for such acts would creep over him in the chill of evening, or
in the heats of noon-day, and darken all his schemes of active
vengeance against the brethren. But still he journeyed northward,
and each hour brought him nearer the scene of long-planned cruelty.
On the last day of his wearisome journey, he at length drew near the
city, just at noon; and from the terms in which his situation is
described, it is not unreasonable to conclude that he was just coming
in sight of Damascus, when the event happened which
revolutionized his purposes, hopes, character, soul, and his whole
existence through eternity,――an event connected with the salvation
of millions that no man can yet number.
DAMASCUS.
Descending from the north-eastern slope of Hermon, over whose

mighty range his last day’s journey had conducted him, Saul came
along the course of the Abana, to the last hill which overlooks the
distant city. Here Damascus bursts upon the traveler’s view, in the
midst of a mighty plain, embosomed in gardens, and orchards, and
groves, which, with the long-known and still bright streams of Abana
and Pharphar, and the golden flood of the Chrysorrhoas, give the
spot the name of “one of the four paradises.” So lovely and charming
is the sight which this fair city has in all ages presented to the
traveler’s view, that the Turks relate that their prophet, coming near
Damascus, took his station on the mountain Salehiyeh, on the west
of the hill-girt plain in which the city stands; and as he thence viewed
the glorious and beautiful spot, encompassed with gardens for thirty
miles, and thickly set with domes and steeples, over which the eye
glances as far as it can reach,――considering the ravishing beauty
of the place, he would not tempt his frailty by entering into it, but
instantly turned away with this reflection: that there was but one
paradise designed for man, and for his part, he was resolved not to
take his, in this world. And though there is not the slightest
foundation for such a story, because the prophet never came near to
Damascus, nor had an opportunity of entering into it, yet the
conspiring testimony of modern travelers justifies the fable, in the
impression it conveys of the surpassing loveliness of the view from
this very spot,――called the Arch of Victory, from an unfinished
mass of stonework which here crowns the mountain’s top. This spot
has been marked by a worthless tradition, as the scene of Saul’s
conversion; and the locality is made barely probable, by the much
better authority of the circumstance, that it accords with the sacred
narrative, in being on the road from Jerusalem, and “nigh unto the
city.”
“Damascus is a very ancient city, which the oldest records and traditions show by their
accordant testimony to have been founded by Uz, the son of Aram, and grandson of Shem.
It was the capital or mother city of that Syria which is distinguished by the name of Aram
Dammesek or Damascene Syria, lying between Libanus and Anti-Libanus. The city stands
at the base of Mount Hermon, from which descend the famous streams of Abana and
Pharphar; the latter washing the walls of the city, while the former cuts it through the middle.
It was a very populous, delightful, and wealthy place; but as in the course of its existence it
had suffered a variety of fortune, so it had often changed masters. To pass over its earlier
history, we will only observe, that before the Christian era, on the defeat of Tigranes, the
Armenian monarch, it was yielded to the Romans, being taken by the armies of Pompey. In
the time of Paul, as we are told in ♦2 Corinthians xi. 32, it was held under the (temporary)
sway of Aretas, a king of the Arabians, father-in-law of Herod the tetrarch. It had then a
large Jewish population, as we may gather from the fact, that in the reign of Nero, 10,000 of
that nation were slaughtered, unarmed, and in the public baths by the Damascenes, as
Josephus records in his history of the Jewish War, II. Book, chapter 25. Among the Jews of
Damascus, also, were a considerable number of Christians, and it was raging for the
destruction of these, that Saul, furnished with the letters and commission of the Jewish high
priest, now flew like a hawk upon the doves.” (Witsius, § 2, ¶ 1.)
♦ “2” omitted in the original text.
The sacred narrative gives no particulars of the other

circumstances connected with this remarkable event, in either of the
three statements presented in different parts of the book of Acts. All
that is commemorated, is that at mid-day, as Saul with his company
drew near to Damascus, he saw a light exceeding the sun in
brightness, which flashed upon them from heaven, and struck them
all to the earth. And while they were all fallen to the ground, Saul
alone heard a voice speaking to him in the Hebrew tongue, and
saying, “Saul! Saul! Why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to
kick against thorns.” To this, Saul asked in reply, “Who art thou,
Lord?” The answer was, “I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom thou
persecutest.” Saul, trembling and astonished, replied, “Lord, what
wilt thou that I should do?” And the voice said, “Rise and stand upon
thy feet, and go into the city; there thou shalt be told what to do,
since for this purpose I have appeared to thee, to make use of thee
as a minister and a witness, both of what thou hast seen and of what
I will cause thee to see,――choosing thee out of the people, and of
the heathen nations to whom I now send thee,――to open their
eyes,――to turn them from darkness to light, and from the dominion
of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins, and an
inheritance among them that are sanctified, by faith in me.”
These words are given thus fully only in Saul’s own account of his conversion, in his
address to king Agrippa. (Acts xxvi. 14‒18.) The original Greek of verse 17, is most
remarkably and expressively significant, containing, beyond all doubt, the formal
commission of Saul as the “Apostle of the Gentiles.” The first word in that verse is
translated in the common English version, “delivering;” whereas, the original, Εξαιρουμενος,
means also “taking out,” “choosing;” and is clearly shown by Bretschneider, sub voc. in
numerous references to the usages of the LXX., and by Kuinoel, in loc., to bear this latter
meaning here. Rosenmueller and others however, have been led, by the circumstance that
Hesychius gives the meaning of “rescue,” to prefer that. Rosenmueller’s remark, that the
context demands this meaning, is however certainly unauthorized; for, on this same ground,
Kuinoel bases the firmest support of the meaning of “choice.” The meaning of “rescue” was
indeed the only one formerly received, but the lights of modern exegesis have added new
distinctness and aptness to the passage, by the meaning adopted above. Beza, Piscator,
Pagninus, Arias Montanus, Castalio, &c., as well as the oriental versions, are all quoted by
Poole in defense of the common rendering, nor does he seem to know of the sense now
received. But Saul was truly chosen, both “out of the people” of Israel, (because he was a
Jew by birth and religion,) “and out of the heathen,” (because he was born and brought up
among the Grecians, and therefore was taken out from among them, as a minister of grace
to them,) and the whole passage is thus shown to be most beautifully just to the
circumstances which so eminently fitted him for his Gentile apostleship. The Greek verb
used in the conclusion of the passage, is the consecrating word, αποστελλω, (apostello,) and
makes up the formula of his apostolic commission, which is there given in language worthy
of the vast and eternal scope of the sense,――words fit to be spoken from heaven, in
thunder, amid the flash of lightnings, that called the bloody-minded, bitter, maddened
persecutor, to the peaceful, devoted, unshrinking testimony of the cause, against the friends
of which he before breathed only threatenings and slaughter.
Εξαιρουμενος σε εκ τοῦ λαοῦ και τῶν ἐθνῶν, εις οὑς νῦν σε ΑΠΟΣΤΕΛΛΩ.
All this took place while the whole company of travelers were lying
prostrate on the ground, stunned and almost senseless. Of all those
present, however, Saul only heard these solemn words of warning,
command, and prophecy, thus sent from heaven in thunder; for he
himself afterwards, in narrating these awful events before the Jewish
multitude, expressly declares “the men that were with me, saw the
light, indeed, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him
who spoke to me.” And though in the previous statement given by
Luke, in the regular course of the narrative, it is said that “the men
who journeyed with Saul were speechless,――hearing a voice, but
seeing no man;” yet the two statements are clearly reconciled by the
consideration of the different meanings of the word translated “voice”
in both passages, but which the accompanying expressions
sufficiently limit in the latter case only to the articulate sounds of a
human voice, while in the former it is left in such terms as to mean
merely a “sound,” as of thunder, or any thing else which can be
supposed to agree best with the other circumstances. To them,
therefore, it seemed only surprising, not miraculous; for they are not
mentioned as being impressed, otherwise than by fear and
amazement, while Saul, who alone heard the words, was moved
thereby to a complete conversion. The whole circumstances,
therefore, allow and require, in accordance with other similar
passages, that the material phenomena which were made the
instruments of this miraculous conversion, were, as they are
described, first a flash of lightning, which struck the company to the
earth, giving all a severe shock, but affecting Saul most of all, and,
second, a peal of thunder, heard by all as such, except Saul, who
distinguished in those awful, repeated sounds, the words of a
heavenly voice, with which he held distinct converse, while his
wondering companions thought him only muttering incoherently to
himself, between the peals of thunder;――just as in the passage
related by John, when Jesus called to God, “Father! glorify thy
name;” and then there came a voice from heaven, saying, “I both
have glorified it and will glorify it;” yet the people who then stood by,
said, “It thundered,”――having no idea of the expressive utterance
which was so distinctly heard by Jesus and his disciples. There is no
account, indeed, in either case, of any thunder storm accompanying
the events; but there is nothing in the incidents to forbid it; and the
nature of the effects upon the company who heard and saw, can be
reconciled only with the supposition of a burst of actual thunder and
lightning, which God made the organ of his awful voice, speaking to
Saul in words that called him from a course of sin and cruelty, to be a
minister of grace, mercy and peace, to all whose destroying
persecutor he had before been. The sequel of the effects, too, are
such as would naturally follow these material agencies. The men
who were least stunned, rose to their feet soon after the first shock;
and when the awful scene was over, they bestirred themselves to lift
up Saul, who was now found, not only speechless, but blind,――the
eyes being so dazzled by such excess of light, that the nerve loses
all its power, generally, forever. Saul being now raised from the
ground, was led, helpless and thunder-struck, by his distressed
attendants, into the city, which he had hoped to make the scene of
his cruel persecutions, but which he now entered, more surely
bound, than could have been the most wretched of his destined
captives.
Kuinoel and Bloomfield will furnish the inquiring reader with the amusing details of the
hypotheses, by which some of the moderns have attempted to explain away the whole of
Saul’s conversion, into a mere remarkable succession of natural occurrences, without any
miracle at all.
his stay in damascus.
Thus did the commissioned persecutor enter the ancient capital of

Aram. But as they led him along the flowery ways into this Syrian
paradise, how vain were its splendors, its beauties and its historic
glories, to the eyes which had so long strained over the far horizon,
to catch the first gleam of its white towers and rosy gardens, beyond
the mountain-walls. In vain did Damascus invite the admiring gaze of
the passing traveler, to those damask roses embowering and
hedging his path, which take their name in modern times, from the
gardens where they first bloomed under the hand of man. In vain did
their fragrance woo his nobler sense to perceive their beauty of form
and hue; in vain did the long line of palaces and towers and temples,
still bright in the venerable splendor of the ancient Aramaic kings,
rise in majesty before him. The eyes that had so often dwelt on these
historical monuments, in the distant and brilliant fancies of studious
youth, were now closed to the not less brilliant splendors of the
reality; and through the ancient arches of those mighty gates, and
along the crowded streets, amid the noise of bustling thousands, the
commissioned minister of wrath now moved distressed, darkened,
speechless and horror-struck,――marked, like the first murderer, (of
whose crime that spot was the fabled scene,) by the hand of God.
The hand of God was indeed on him, not in wrath, but in mercy,
sealing his abused bodily vision for a short space, until his mental
eyes, purified from the scales of prejudice and unholy zeal, should
have become fitted for the perception of objects, whose beauty and
glory should be the theme of his thoughts and words, through all his
later days, and of his discourse to millions for whom his heart now
felt no love, but for whose salvation he was destined to freely spend
and offer up his life. Passing along the crowded ways of the great
city, under the guidance of his attendants, he was at last led into the
street, which for its regularity was called the “Straight Way,” and
there was lodged in the house of a person named
Judas,――remaining for three days in utter darkness, without the
presence of a single friend, and without the glimmer of a hope that
he should ever again see the light of day. Disconsolate and desolate,
he passed the whole of this period in fasting, without one earthly
object or call, to distract his attention from the solemn themes of his
heavenly vision. He had all this long interval for reflection on the
strange reversion of destiny pointed out by this indisputable decree,
which summoned him from works of cruelty and destruction, to
deeds of charity, kindness and devotion to those whose ruin he had
lately sought with his whole heart. At the close of this season of
lonely but blessed meditation, a new revelation of the commanding
presence of the Deity was made to a humble and devout Christian of
Damascus, named Ananias, known even among the Jews as a man
of blameless character. To him, in a vision, the Lord appeared, and
calling him by name, directed him most minutely to the house where
Saul was lodging, and gave him the miraculous commission of
restoring to sight that same Saul, now deprived of this sense by the
visitation of God, but expecting its restoration by the hands of
Ananias himself, who though yet unknown to him in the body, had
been distinctly seen in a vision by the blind sufferer, as his healer, in
the name of that Jesus who had met him in the way and smote him
with this blindness, dazzling him with the excess of his unveiled
heavenly glories. Ananias, yet appalled by the startling view of the
bright messenger, and doubting the nature of the vision which
summoned him to a duty so strangely inconsistent with the dreadful
fame and character of the person named as the subject of his
miraculous ministrations, hesitated to promise obedience, and
parleyed with his summoner. “Lord! I have heard by many, of this
man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and
here, he has commission from the chief priests to bind all that call on
thy name.” The merciful Lord, not resenting the rational doubts of his
devout but alarmed servant, replied in words of considerate
explanation, renewing his charge, with assurances of the safe and
hopeful accomplishment of his appointed task. “Go thy way: for he is
a chosen instrument of mercy for me, to bear my name before
nations and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will show him how
great things he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Ananias, no
longer doubting, now went his way as directed, and finding Saul,
clearly addressed him in terms of confidence and even of affection,
recognizing him, on the testimony of the vision, as already a friend of
those companions of Jesus, whom he had lately persecuted. He put
his hands on him, in the usual form of invoking a blessing on any
one, and said, “Brother Saul! the Lord Jesus, who appeared to thee
in the way, as thou camest, has sent me, that thou mightest receive
thy sight, and be filled with a holy spirit.” And immediately there fell
from the eyes of the blinded persecutor, something like scales, and
he saw now, in bodily, real presence, him who had already been in
form revealed to his spirit, in a vision. At the same moment, fell from
his inward sense, the obscuring film of prejudice and bigotry.
Renewed in mental vision, he saw with the clear eye of confiding
faith and eternal hope, that Jesus, who in the full revelation of his
vindictive majesty having dazzled and blinded him in his murderous
career, now appeared to his purified sense, in the tempered rays and
mild effulgence of redeeming grace. Changed too, in the whole
frame of his mind, he felt no more the promptings of that dark spirit
of cruelty, but, filled with a holy spirit, before unknown to him, he
began a new existence, replete with the energies of a divine
influence. No longer fasting in token of distress, he now ate, by way
of thanksgiving for his joyful restoration, and was strengthened
thereby for the great task which he had undertaken. He was now
admitted to the fellowship of the disciples of Jesus, and remained
many days among them as a brother, mingling in the most friendly
intercourse with those very persons, against whom he came to wage
exterminating ruin. Nor did he confine his actions in his new
character to the privacies of Christian intercourse. Going
immediately into the synagogues, he there publicly proclaimed his
belief in Jesus Christ, and boldly maintained him to be the Son of
God. Great was the amazement of all who heard him. The fame of
Saul of Tarsus, as a ferocious and determined persecutor of all who
professed the faith of Jesus, had already pervaded Palestine, and
spread into Syria; and what did this strange display now mean? They
saw him, whom they had thus known by his dreadful reputation as a
hater and exterminator of the Nazarene doctrine, now preaching it in
the schools of the Jewish law and the houses of worship for the
adherents of Mosaic forms, and with great power persuading others
to a similar renunciation of all opposition to the name of Jesus; and
they said, “Is not this he who destroyed them that called on this
name in Jerusalem, and came hither, with the very purpose of taking
them bound, to the Sanhedrim, for punishment?” But Saul, each day
advancing in the knowledge and faith of the Christian doctrine, soon
grew too strong in argument for the most skilful of the defenders of
the Jewish faith; and utterly confounded them with his proofs that
Jesus was the very Messiah. This triumphant course he followed for
a long time; until, at last, the stubborn Jews, provoked to the highest
degree by the defeats which they had suffered from this powerful
disputant, lately their most zealous defender, took counsel to put him
to death, as a renegade from the faith, of which he had been the
trusted professor, as well as the commissioned minister of its
vengeance on the heretics whose cause he had now espoused, and
was defending, to the great injury and discredit of the Judaical order.
In contriving the means of executing this scheme, they received the
support and assistance of the government of the city,――Damascus
being then held, not by the Romans, but by Aretas, a petty king of
northern Arabia. The governor appointed by Aretas did not scruple to
aid the Jews in their murderous project; but even himself, with a
detachment of the city garrison, kept watch at the gates, to kill Saul
at his first outgoing. But all their wicked plots were set at nought by a
very simple contrivance. The Christian friends of Saul, hearing of the
danger, determined to remove him from it at once; and accordingly,
one night, put the destined apostle of the Gentiles in a basket; and
through the window of some one of their houses, which adjoined the
barriers of the city, they let him down outside of the wall, while the
spiteful Jews, with the complaisant governor and his detachment of
the city guard, were to no purpose watching the gates with
unceasing resolution, to wreak their vengeance on this dangerous
convert.
Michaelis alludes to the difficulties which have arisen about the possession of Damascus
by Aretas, and concludes as follows:
“The force of these objections has been considerably weakened, in a dissertation

published in 1755, ‘De ethnarcha Aretae Arabum regis Paulo insidiante,’ by J. G. Heyne,
who has shown it to be highly probable, first, that Aretas, against whom the Romans, not
long before the death of Tiberius, made a declaration of war, which they neglected to put in
execution, took the opportunity of seizing Damascus, which had once belonged to his
ancestors; an event omitted in Josephus, as forming no part of the Jewish history, and by
the Roman historians as being a matter not flattering in itself, and belonging only to a
distant province. Secondly, that Aretas was by religion a Jew,――a circumstance the more
credible, when we reflect that Judaism had been widely propagated in that country, and that
even kings in Arabia Felix had recognized the law of Moses. * * * And hence we may
explain the reason why the Jews were permitted to exercise, in Damascus, persecutions
still severer than those in Jerusalem, where the violence of their zeal was awed by the
moderation of the Roman policy. Of this we find an example in the ninth chapter of the Acts,
where Paul is sent by the high priest to Damascus, to exercise against the Christians,
cruelties which the return of the Roman governor had checked in Judea. These accounts
agree likewise with what is related in Josephus, that the number of Jews in Damascus
amounted to ten thousand, and that almost all the women, even those whose husbands
were heathens, were of the Jewish religion.” (Michaelis, Introduction, Vol. IV. Part I. c. ii. §
12.)
his residence in arabia.
On his escape from this murderous plot, Saul, having now

received from God, who called him by his grace, the revelation of his
Son, that he might preach him among the heathen, immediately
resolved not to confer with any mortal, on the subject of his task, and
therefore refrained from going up to Jerusalem, to visit those who
were apostles before him. Turning his course southeastward, he
found refuge from the rage of the Damascan Jews, in the solitudes
of the eastern deserts, where, free alike from the persecutions and
the corruptions of the city, he sought in meditation and lonely study,
that diligent preparation which was necessary for the high ministry to
which God had so remarkably called him. A long time was spent by
him in this wise and profitable seclusion; but the exact period cannot
be ascertained. It is only probable that more than a year was thus
occupied; during which he was not a mere hermit, indeed, but at any
rate, was a resident in a region destitute of most objects which would
be apt to draw off his attention from study. That part of Arabia in
which he took refuge, was not a mere desert, nor a wilderness, yet
had very few towns, and those only of a small size, with hardly any
inhabitants of such a character as to be attractive companions to
Saul. After some time, changes having taken place in the
government of Damascus, he was enabled to return thither with
safety, the Jews being now checked in their persecuting cruelty by
the re-establishment of the Roman dominion over that part of Syria.
He did not remain there long; but having again displayed himself as
a bold assertor of the faith of Jesus, he next set his face towards
Jerusalem, on his return, to make known in the halls of those who
had sent him forth to deeds of blood, that their commission had been
reversed by the Father of all spirits, who had now not only
summoned, but fully equipped, their destined minister of wrath, to be
“a chosen instrument of mercy” to nations who had never yet heard
of Israel’s God.
The different accounts given of these events, in Acts ix. 19‒25, and in Galatians i. 15‒
24, as well as 2 Corinthians xi. 32‒33, have been united in very opposite ways by different
commentators, and form the most perplexing passages in the life of Saul. The journey into
Arabia, of which he speaks in Galatians i. 17, is supposed by most writers, to have been
made during the time when Luke mentions him as occupied in and about Damascus; and it
is said that he went thence into Arabia immediately after his conversion, before he had
preached anywhere; and such writers maintain that the word “straightway,” or
“immediately,” in Acts ix. 20, (ευθεως,) really means, that it was not until a long time after his
conversion that he preached in the synagogues!! Into this remarkable opinion they have
been led by the fact, that Saul himself says, (Galatians i. 16,) that when he was called by
God to the apostleship, “immediately he conferred not with flesh and blood, nor went up to
Jerusalem, but went into Arabia.” All this however, is evidently specified by him only in
reference to the point that he did not derive his title to the apostleship from “those that were
apostles before him,” nor from any human authority; and full justice is therefore done to his
words, by applying them only to the fact, that he went to Arabia before he went to
Jerusalem, without supposing them to mean that he left Damascus immediately after his
baptism by Ananias. All the historical writers however, seem to take this latter view. Witsius,
Cappel, Pearson, Lardner, Murdock, Hemsen, &c. place his journey to Arabia between his
baptism and the time of his escape, and suppose that when he fled from Damascus, he
went directly to Jerusalem. In the different arrangement which I make of these events,
however, I find myself supported by most of the great exegetical writers, as Wolf, Kuinoel,
and Bloomfield; and I can not better support this view than in the words of the latter.
Acts ix. 19. “ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ Σαῦλος. Paul (Galatians ♦ i. 17,) relates that he, after his
conversion, did not proceed to Jerusalem, but repaired to Arabia, and from thence returned
to Damascus. Hence, according to the opinion of Pearson, in his Annales Paulini, p. 2. the
words ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ Σαῦλος are to be separated from the preceding passage, and constitute a
new story, in which is related what happened at Damascus after Saul’s return from Arabia.
But the words ἱκαναὶ ἡμέραι may and ought to be referred to the whole time of Paul’s abode
at Damascus, before he went into Arabia; and thus with the ἱκαναὶ ἡμέραι be numbered the
ἡμέραι τινὲς mentioned at verse 19: for the sense of the words is this: ‘Saul, when he spent
some days with the Damascene Christians, immediately taught in the synagogues. Now
Luke entirely passes by Paul’s journey into Arabia. (Kuinoel.) Doddridge imagines that his
going into Arabia, (to which, as he observes, Damascus now belonged,) was only making
excursions from that city into the neighboring parts of the country, and perhaps taking a
large circuit about it, which might be his employment between the time in which he began to
preach in Damascus, and his quitting it after having been conquered by the Romans under
Pompey.’ But in view of this subject I cannot agree with him. The country in the
neighborhood of Damascus is not properly Arabia.”
♦ “1, 17” replaced with “i. 17”
22‒24. “ὡς δὲ ἐπληροῦντο――ἀνελεῖν αὐτόν. In 2 Corinthians xi. 32, we read that the
Ethnarch of Aretas, king of Arabia, had placed a guard at the gates of Damascus, to seize
Paul. Now it appears that Syria Damascene was, at the end of the Mithridatic war, reduced
by Pompey to the Roman yoke. It has therefore been inquired how it could happen that
Aretas should then have the government, and appoint an Ethnarch. That Aretas had, on
account of the repudiation of his daughter by Herod Antipas, commenced hostilities against
that monarch, and in the last year of Tiberius (A. D. 37,) had completely defeated his army,
we learn from Josephus Antiquities, 18, 5, 1. seqq. Herod had, we find, signified this by
letter to Tiberius, who, indignant at this audacity, (Josephus L. c.) gave orders to Vitellius,
prefect of Syria, to declare war against Aretas, and take him alive, or send him his head.
Vitellius made preparations for the war, but on receiving a message acquainting him with
the death of Tiberius, he dismissed his troops into winter quarters. And thus Aretas was
delivered from the danger. At the time, however, that Vitellius drew off his forces, Aretas
invaded Syria, seized Damascus, and continued to occupy it, in spite of Tiberius’s stupid
successor, Caligula. This is the opinion of most commentators, and among others, Wolf,
Michaelis, and Eichhorn. But I have already shewn in the Prolegomena § de chronologia lib.
2, 3, that Aretas did not finally subdue Damascus until Vitellius had already departed from
the province.” (Kuinoel.) (Bloomfield’s Annotations, Vol. IV. pp. 322‒324.)
his return to jerusalem.
Arriving in the city, whence only three years before he had set out,
in a frame of mind so different from that in which he returned, and
with a purpose so opposite to his present views and plans,――he
immediately, with all the confidence of Christian faith, and ardent
love for those to whom his religious sympathies now so closely
fastened him, assayed to mingle in a familiar and friendly manner
with the apostolic company, and offered himself to their Christian
fellowship as a devout believer in Jesus. But they, already having too
well known him in his previous character as the persecutor of their
brethren, the aider and abettor in the murder of the heroic and
innocent Stephen, and the greatest enemy of the faithful,――very
decidedly repulsed his advances, as only a new trick to involve them
in difficulties, that would make them liable to punishment which their
prudence had before enabled them to escape. They therefore
altogether refused to receive Saul; for “they were all afraid of him,
and believed not that he was a disciple.” In this disagreeable
condition,――cast out as a hypocrite, by the apostles of that faith, for
which he had sacrificed all earthly prospects,――he was fortunately
found by Barnabas, who being, like Saul, a Hellenist Jew, naturally
felt some especial sympathy with one whose country was within a
few miles of his own; and by this circumstance, being induced to
notice the professed convert, soon recognized in him, the indubitable
signs of a regenerated and sanctified spirit, and therefore brought
him to the chief apostles, Peter, and James, the Lord’s brother; for
with these alone did Saul commune, at this visit, as he himself
distinctly testifies. Still avoiding the company of the great mass of the
apostles and disciples, he confined himself almost wholly to the
acquaintance of Peter, with whom he abode in close familiarity for
fifteen days. In order to reconcile the narrative of Luke in the Acts,
with the account given by Saul himself, in the first chapter of the
epistle to the Galatians, it must be understood that the “apostles”
spoken of by the former are only the two above-mentioned, and it
was with these only that he “went in and out at Jerusalem,”――the
other apostles being probably absent on some missionary duties
among the new churches throughout Judea and Palestine. Imitating
the spirit of the proto-martyr, whose death he had himself been
instrumental in effecting, “he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and disputed against the Hellenists,” doubtless the very same
persons among whom he himself had formerly been enrolled as an
unshrinking opposer of that faith which he was now advocating. By
them he was received with all that vindictive hate which might have
been expected; and he was at once denounced as a vile renegade
from the cause which in his best days he had maintained as the only
right one. To show most satisfactorily that, though he might change,
they had not done so, they directly resolved to punish the bold
disowner of the faith of his fathers, and would soon have crowned

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Beyond the Internet of Things

Everything Interconnected 1st Edition

Internet of Medical Things: Paradigm of Wearable

People processes services and things using services

The Internet of Things Mercedes Bunz

Programming the Internet of Things Andy King

MySQL for the Internet of Things 1st Edition Charles

MicroPython for the Internet of Things 1st Edition

The Economic Philosophy of the Internet of Things 1st

Industrial Internet of Things Sabina Jeschke

Jordi Mongay Batalla

Technology, Communications and Computing

Beyond the Internet

ISSN 2199-1073 ISSN 2199-1081 (electronic)

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

To my son Nikos, who always makes me

To my wife Afrodyte for her unconditional

To Vasiliki and Meletios for the time I did not

Part I Challenges Beyond the Internet of Things

Part II Technologies for Connecting Everything

Part III Applicability of Interconnecting Everything

Part IV New Horizons: Large Scenarios

Jordi Mongay Batalla

Everton de Matos, Leonardo Albernaz Amaral and Fabiano Hessel

E. de Matos (✉) ⋅ L.A. Amaral ⋅ F. Hessel

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017 3

2 From Internet of Things (IoT) to Internet

Fig. 1 Internet growth is occurring in waves [32]

As things add capabilities like context awareness, increased processing power,

Fig. 2 The what, where, and how of the Internet of Everything

transformation from data to information in IoE is important because it will allow

Implementation of IoE environments is usually based on a standard architecture

Fig. 3 Layered architecture of Internet of Everything

2.2 Characteristics and Environments

IoT allows communication among very heterogeneous devices connected by a very

3.1 Context Acquisition

In acquisition process, context needs to be acquired from various information

3.2 Context Modeling

database, noSQL database, etc. Further, as we are familiar with databases,

3.3 Context Reasoning

Context reasoning can be deﬁned as a method of deducing new knowledge based

in multiple interactions. For example in a situation where the context is repre-

3.4 Context Distribution

Finally, context distribution is a fairly straightforward task. It provides methods to

Context-awareness involves acquisition of contextual information, modelling of

4.1 Architecture Overview

In terms of architecture, some authors have identiﬁed and comprehensively dis-

• Application Programming Interface (API): All the functionalities should be

4.2 Systems Features

Table 1 Context life-cycle IoE system (1) (2) (3)

Table 2 Context features implemented in IoE systems

♦ “Pharasaic” replaced with “Pharisaic”

his persecuting character.

Stephen’s murder seems to have unlocked all the persecuting

“But there are instances of flagellation in synagogues found in

his journey to damascus.

Thus equipped with the high commission and letters of the

Descending from the north-eastern slope of Hermon, over whose

♦ “2” omitted in the original text.

The sacred narrative gives no particulars of the other

his stay in damascus.

Thus did the commissioned persecutor enter the ancient capital of