Bible Studies In The Word of God

The Book of Acts ~ Chapter Twenty~One
Acts of the Apostles and History of the Early Church

ACTS 21

 

Verses 1, 2. The ship they took at Miletus went as far as Patara only, where the group had to change over to another vessel bound for Phenicia.  That was a small tract of country on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

Verse 3. Discovered Cyprus means they came in sight of that island, but passing it on their left they sailed on into Syria, the larger territory of which Phenicia was a small part. The  ship landed at Tyre, an important seaport of the last named country. Here the ship was to unload its cargo which made a delay in the journey of seven days.

Verse 4. Through the Spirit applies
to the general condition of persecution
that would beset Paul, not that it was
an inspired directive for him not to go.

Verse 5. Brought us on our 'way
means that they all went with them to
“see them off.” Leave-taking was often
done in connection with a prayer ser-
vice. It was done when Paul and the
elders separated (chapter 20:36).

Verse 6. After saying good-bye they
separated. The disciples went to their
homes and Paul and his company went
into the ship which was ready to sail
again.

Verse 7. Paul and his group ended
their sea travel at this town. There
were some brethren here with whom
they visited for one day.

Verse 8. This traveling was done by
land, bringing them to Caesarea which
was the headquarters of the Roman
government in Palestine. Philip was
one of the deacons appointed in chap-
ter 6. He is called the evangelist be-
cause of such work as he did as re-
corded in chapter 8. 

Verse 9. These 'virgins were the
maidens mentioned elsewhere and
their prophesying fulfilled the predic-
tion made in Joel 2: 28, 29 and quoted
by Peter in Acts 2: 17, 18.

Verse 10. This is the same Agabus who made a prediction in chapter 11:28. The primary meaning of a prophet is a foreteller, although it is not restricted to that definition, but sometimes is used of those who edify or exhort (1 Corinthians 14:3). Agabus was a prophet of the former kind, those being the days of spiritual gifts.

Verse 11. See the note on “prophets acting” at 1 Kings 20: 35 in volume 2 of the Old Testament Commentary.   Agabus took this dramatic manner of making his prediction to impress its importance upon the group.

Verse 12. The whole group believed the prediction of Agabus, and in their anxiety and love for Paul, tried to persuade him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Verse 13. Paul did not worry over the prediction, but he was vexed because of the attitude of the group. He declared his willingness to go even further in his endurance for the sake of Jesus. He was willing to die for  him if need be, although Agabus had not included that in his prediction.

Verse 14. The will of the Lofrcl be 
clone indicates their resignation to
whatever lot might befall the beloved
apostle. His fortitude had the effect
of reconciling them to the program
that Christ might have mapped out
for him.
Verse 15. Took: up our carriages is
all from APOSKEUAZO, which Thayer de-
fines, “To pack up and carry off.” We
means Luke, Paul and the others of
their company.
Verse 16. Mnasom. was formerly of
the island of Cyprus but was now liv-
ing in Jerusalem. He was returning
home with this group and arrange-
ments were made for them to stay
with him.
Verse 17. Brethren received us gladly
indicated a friendly attitude toward
the brethren of Paul’s group. This was
not only because of the common in-
terest they had in the cause of Christ,
but there were certain questions that
had arisen among the Jewish Chris-
tians thatthey wished Paul to clarify.
Verse 18. The prominence of this
James has been mentioned before. He
is the one called “the Lord’s brother”
in Galiatians 1: 19, and isthe one in
Acts 12: 17; 21: 18; 1 Corinthians 15:
7 and Galatians 2:12. It is under-
standable, then, why Paul sought his
company in the presence of the elders.
Verse 19. One of the main subjects
of interest in those days was the ad-
mittance of the Gentiles to the bene-
fits of the Gospel.
Verse 20. While many of the breth-
ren rejoiced in the conversion of the
Gentiles, they were confused as to
their proper relation to the national
customs of the Jews under the law of
Moses. Zealous of the law means they
had a desire to continue the aforesaid
customs of the law even though they
had embraced the Gospel. They had
the right to do so (chapter 16: 3; 18:
21), but did not understand why thc
Gentiles did not also.
Verse 21. Paul taught that no one
was to be justified by the law of Moses.
This teaching of the apostle was mis-
understood and some thought that he
also opposed the Jews who observed
the old practices even though they did
it merely as national customs. These
elders understood Paul’s position on
the subject, but many of the Jewish
brethren did not, and they were in-
forming him of the situation.

Verse 22. Paul was told that there
would be an assembling of these zeal-
ous Jewish disciples in order to in-
quire into the subject.

Verses 23, 24. As a proof that Paul
had not turned against the law as far
as the national customs were con-
cerned, they told him of an oppor-
tunity just at hand where he could
engage in one of those customs, which
was in regard to vows and the for-
malities required. The directions for
observing this vow are in Numbers
6th chapter.

Verse 25. This refers to chapter 15:23-29.

Verse 26. Paul complied with the advice of the elders. When he did so he carried out a principle he set forth in 1 Corinthians 9:20. 

Verse 27. Paul had to be in the
temple to perform the custom men-
tioned in the preceding verse. That
attracted the attention of the Jews of
Asia, a small Roman province in which
was the city of Ephesus. They had
known of Paul’s work in their home
city and still had a prejudice against
him. They raised a commotion among
the people and caused them to threaten
Paul- with violence.

Verse 28. Like most riotous demon-
strations, the motive was a false accu-
sation. The mob accused Paul of op-
posing the law. (See comments at
verses 20, 21.) They even accused him
of bringing some Greeks (Gentiles)
into the temple for the purpose of cor-
rupting it. 

Verse 29. When people have the mot1ve of persecuting a man whose teaching they do not like but cannot meet, they will take things for granted and form wrongful conclusions. Paul was seen with one Trophimus somewhere in the city, then the people presumed that he had taken him into the temple to corrupt it.  

Verse 30. A general uproar was caused and Paul was forcibly taken out of the temple. The doors were closed to prevent him from returning should he get loose.  

Verse 31. Went about to kill him
means they were actually beginning
their acts of violence, and intended to
continue until they had him killed
(verse 32). Word of the riot reached
the ears of the captain, of the military.

Verse 32. The captain took a crew
of soldiers with him to the scene of
the riot. The appearance of this com-
pany caused the mob to cease beating
Paul.  

Verse 33. The captain partook of
the mob spirit and mistreated Paul,
although the apostle had not even been
accused by any ofiicer.

Verse 34. The riotous clamor of the
mob confused the captain so that he
concluded to remove Paul from them
for further investigation, all the while
treating him very roughly. The castle
was the place that contained the bar-
racks of the soldiers.

Verse 35. The mob spirit was so vio-
lent that Paul had to be carried by the
soldiers to get him through the crowd
to a place of personal safety.

Verse 36. Awaywith him was an
outburst of rage prompted by the spirit
of murder, for Paul had not even been
accused by any legal witness.

Verse 37. While this military police
was pushing Paul along, he asked per-
mission to make a speech to the people
in his own behalf. This request was
made in the Greek language, which
surprised the captain   who thought
Paul was an Egyptian.

Verse  38. The only fact that was
present in both the case of the Egyp-
tian and that of Paul, was that there
was an uproar among the people. But
the apostle was not to blame for the
present riot, a truth seemingly un-
known to the chief captain.

Verse 39. Paul did not answer the
captain with a direct “no,” but stated
in brief his identity. Instead of being
an Egyptian he was a Jew. Tarsus was
no mean city which means it was no
insignificant place. Paul’s nativity,
then, was an honorable and noted one.  On that basis he again asked permis-sion to speak to the people.

 

Verse 40. After being given license or permission to speak, Paul stood on the stairway to be in sight and hearing of the people, making a signal with his hand  requesting their attention.  When talking to the captain (verse37) who was a Gentile, Paul used the Greek tongue.  Now that the crowd was mostly Jewish, he used their own language which he knew they could understand and would respect.