Acts 21

After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail and went straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes, and from there we went on to Patara.

1And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:

NoteFrom here the account is told in the first person, "we," as by someone traveling with Paul; the narrator never names himself. Cos, Rhodes and Patara are harbors and islands strung along the southwestern coast of Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey. The small coastal vessel they were on worked its way from port to port.

2There we found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, so we went on board and set sail.

2And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth.

NotePhoenicia was the narrow coastal strip of what is now Lebanon and northern Israel, with Tyre and Sidon as its chief ports. This second ship was a larger vessel making the open-water crossing rather than hugging the coast.

3We came in sight of Cyprus and passed it on our left, sailing on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, because the ship was going to unload its cargo there.

3Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden.

Note"We left it on the left hand" means Cyprus stayed off the port side, so the ship passed to the south of the island on a southeasterly run toward the Syrian coast. Tyre was the leading Phoenician port and a natural place for a cargo ship to break its voyage.

4We looked for the followers of Jesus there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

4And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

Note"Go up to Jerusalem" is the standard idiom: Jerusalem sits high in the hill country, and Jews spoke of going up to it from any direction. The Greek of this verse is genuinely open: it can mean the Spirit itself told Paul not to go, or that the Spirit showed these believers what awaited him and they, on their own, urged him to stay away. Both readings have been defended since antiquity.

5When our time there was over, we left and went on our way. All of them, along with their wives and children, walked with us until we were outside the city. There on the shore we knelt down and prayed.

5And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.

6After we had said goodbye to one another, we boarded the ship, and they went back home.

6And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again.

7We finished the voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais. There we greeted the believers and stayed with them for one day.

7And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day.

NotePtolemais was the ancient port of Acco, some twenty-five miles south of Tyre; the modern city is Acre. "The brethren" in the King James means fellow believers generally, men and women alike, not male relatives.

8The next day we left and came to Caesarea. We went into the house of Philip, who preached the good news and was one of the seven men chosen earlier, and we stayed with him.

8And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.

NoteCaesarea was a harbor city built by Herod the Great and the seat of the Roman governor of Judea. "Evangelist" simply means an announcer of good news; it carried no sense of a modern preaching career. "One of the seven" points back to the seven men appointed in Acts 6 to oversee the daily distribution of food to widows in the Jerusalem congregation.

9This man had four daughters who were unmarried and who spoke messages from God.

9And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

Note"Virgins" here means unmarried, nothing more. To prophesy meant to speak a message understood as coming from God; it could involve prediction, as with Agabus below, but also encouragement or rebuke.

10While we were staying there for a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

10And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

NoteAgabus appears earlier in Acts, at Antioch, where he foretold a widespread famine. Judea here means the inland region around Jerusalem, as distinct from the coastal city they were sitting in.

11He came to us, took Paul's belt, and tied up his own hands and feet with it. He said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt just like this, and will hand him over to the Gentiles."

11And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

NoteA "girdle" was a long cloth sash wound several times around the waist, easily long enough to serve as a rope and often used as a purse as well. Tying himself up with it is an acted-out message, a method Israel's older prophets used often: the message is performed before it is spoken. "Gentiles" means non-Jews; in this prediction it points to the Roman authorities.

12When we heard this, both we and the people who lived there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

12And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.

13Then Paul answered, "Why are you crying and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be tied up, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

13Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

14Since he would not be talked out of it, we stopped urging him and said, "May the Lord's will be done."

14And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

15After those days we packed our bags and started up to Jerusalem.

15And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.

Note"Carriages" in 1611 English meant the things carried, that is, baggage, not any kind of vehicle. The sense is simply that they packed up.

16Some of the followers from Caesarea went with us. They brought us to the house of Mnason, a man from Cyprus who had been a follower since the early days, and we were to stay with him.

16There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.

Note"An old disciple" translates a word meaning original or from the early days. Mnason was a believer of long standing, probably from the first years of the movement, which is not quite the same as saying he was elderly.

17When we arrived in Jerusalem, the believers there welcomed us gladly.

17And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

18The next day Paul went with us to see James, and all the elders were there.

18And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.

NoteThis James led the Jerusalem congregation and is identified elsewhere in the New Testament as a brother of Jesus. He is not James the son of Zebedee, who had been executed years earlier. "Elders" were the recognized senior leaders of the community, a structure borrowed from the synagogue.

19After greeting them, he told them in detail everything God had done among the Gentiles through his work.

19And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.

20When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, "Brother, you can see how many thousands of Jews have believed, and every one of them is eager to keep the law of Moses.

20And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

NoteThe word behind "thousands" is literally "myriads," tens of thousands, a round expression for a very large number rather than a headcount. "Zealous of the law" means zealous for the law, that is, committed to keeping the commandments given through Moses. These are Jewish believers in Jesus who had not stopped living as Jews.

21They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses. They hear that you tell them not to circumcise their children or follow our customs.

21And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

NoteCircumcision, the cutting away of the foreskin on the eighth day after birth, was the physical sign of the covenant with Abraham and the clearest marker of Jewish identity. "To forsake Moses" means to abandon the law of Moses; "walk after the customs" means to live by the inherited Jewish practices. The charge is that Paul was telling Jews abroad to stop being Jews, which he denies.

22So what should be done? People will certainly hear that you have come, and a crowd is bound to gather.

22What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.

23So do what we tell you. We have four men here who have taken a vow.

23Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;

NoteThe vow is almost certainly a Nazirite vow, set out in Numbers 6: for a fixed period the person drank no wine, ate nothing from the grapevine, avoided contact with a corpse, and left the hair uncut. At the end the head was shaved at the temple and specific animal and grain offerings were presented.

24Take these men, go through the cleansing rite with them, and pay their costs so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is nothing to the reports about you, and that you yourself live by the law and keep it.

24Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

Note"Be at charges with them" means pay their expenses. The offerings that closed a Nazirite vow (two lambs, a ram, bread, grain and wine) were costly, and paying them for someone who could not afford it was a widely admired act of piety. Paul, arriving from Gentile territory, would himself need a period of ritual cleansing before he could take part in temple rites alongside them.

25As for the Gentiles who have believed, we have written them our decision: they need not keep these things. They only must stay away from food offered to idols, from blood, from the meat of animals that were strangled, and from sexual sin."

25As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

NoteThis refers back to the letter sent out after the Jerusalem meeting in Acts 15. The four items are food restrictions plus one moral one: meat from animals sacrificed in pagan temples, much of which was resold in ordinary markets; blood, which Jewish law forbade eating; animals killed by strangling, since their blood was not drained; and "fornication," a broad Greek word covering sexual conduct outside marriage generally.

26So Paul took the men, and the next day he went through the cleansing rite with them. Then he entered the temple to give notice of when the days of cleansing would be finished and an offering would be made for each of them.

26Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

NoteEntering the temple "to signify the accomplishment of the days" means giving formal notice to the priests of the date on which the vow period would end, so that the closing sacrifices could be scheduled.

27When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and grabbed hold of him,

27And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,

Note"Asia" is the Roman province occupying western Asia Minor, with Ephesus as its principal city, not the continent. These men would have known Paul by sight from his long stay in Ephesus.

28shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, against the law, and against this place. On top of that, he has brought Greeks into the temple and made this holy place unclean."

28Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.

NoteThe temple had graded courts. The outer court was open to anyone, but stone notices in Greek and Latin warned that any foreigner who passed the barrier into the inner courts had only himself to blame for the death that followed; two of these inscriptions have been dug up. Rome, unusually, allowed the Jewish authorities to enforce that penalty. "This place" means the temple itself.

29(They said this because they had earlier seen Trophimus, a man from Ephesus, with him in the city, and they assumed Paul had brought him into the temple.)

29(For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)

NoteTrophimus came from Ephesus, in the province of Asia, which is exactly why the men from Asia recognized him in the street. Seeing him with Paul in the city, they jumped to the conclusion that Paul had also taken him past the barrier.

30The whole city was stirred up, and people came running from all directions. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the doors were shut.

30And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.

NoteThe doors are the gates of the inner temple courts, shut by the temple guards. Whether this was to keep bloodshed out of the sanctuary or to stop Paul from getting back inside to claim its protection, the text does not say.

31While they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman troops that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

31And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

Note"The chief captain of the band" is a Roman tribune commanding a cohort, a unit of roughly a thousand men. His name, given later, was Claudius Lysias. The garrison was housed in the fortress of Antonia at the northwest corner of the temple courts, overlooking them, with stairs running down into the outer court; that is why troops could reach the riot within moments.

32He immediately took soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

32Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.

NoteCenturions were officers who each commanded about a hundred men. That more than one came means a substantial detachment poured down the stairs.

33Then the commander came up, arrested him, and ordered him to be tied with two chains. He asked who the man was and what he had done.

33Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.

NoteTwo chains means Paul was chained by each wrist to a soldier on either side of him, the standard Roman way of securing a prisoner in a crowd.

34In the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another. Since the commander could not learn the truth because of the noise, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks.

34And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle.

Note"Castle" in 1611 English meant a fortified garrison building. Here it is the barracks inside the Antonia fortress next to the temple. "Could not know the certainty for the tumult" means he could not find out what had actually happened because of the noise.

35When Paul reached the steps, the soldiers had to carry him because the crowd was so violent.

35And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people.

36The mass of people kept following and shouting, "Get rid of him!"

36For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.

Note"Away with him" is not a demand for removal but for death, the same shout raised at the trial of Jesus in Luke's Gospel.

37As Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I say something to you?" The commander said, "Do you know Greek?

37And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?

NoteThe commander's surprise is the point. He had assumed Paul was an uneducated foreign agitator, and hearing him speak polished Greek immediately upsets that assumption.

38Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins out into the desert?"

38Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?

NoteThe Jewish historian Josephus describes an Egyptian who, a few years before this, gathered a following into the wilderness and then to the Mount of Olives claiming the walls of Jerusalem would fall; Roman troops under the governor Felix cut the movement down, but the leader escaped, which is why the commander thinks he may have him in hand. The word the King James renders "murderers" is the Greek borrowing of the Latin "sicarii," the dagger-men: nationalist assassins who hid short curved knives under their cloaks and stabbed opponents in festival crowds.

39Paul said, "I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city that is well known. Please, let me speak to the people."

39But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

Note"No mean city" means no insignificant one; "mean" in 1611 English meant lowly or of low rank. Tarsus, in Cilicia in southeastern Asia Minor, was a wealthy trading city famous for its schools of philosophy, so the claim was a real one.

40The commander gave him permission. So Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people with his hand. When the crowd had grown completely quiet, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language. He said:

40And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

Note"Licence" here simply means permission. The Greek phrase behind "the Hebrew tongue" can mean either Hebrew itself or Aramaic, the everyday spoken language of Jews in Judea at this period, and scholars are divided on which is meant. Either way, the point is that Paul switched out of Greek into the crowd's own language.