Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 21:16
There 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.
16. There went with us also of Cesarea ] The Greek text has a conjunction to introduce the sentence, “ And there went, &c. from Csarea. ” The Evangelist had formed a Church where he had settled, and the congregation were, like their teacher, concerned at St Paul’s danger, and so some went with him to Jerusalem. Perhaps the nucleus of the Church may be dated from the baptism of Cornelius, and Philip settling in Csarea carried on what had been begun by St Peter.
and brought with them ] There is no special word in Greek for the last two English words. The original is a participle, meaning “leading.” Therefore the Rev. Ver. renders “ bringing,” and adds “with them” in italics. But seeing that “to lead” is “to bring somebody with you,” the A. V. seems justified in printing “with them” in Roman letters as being necessary to the sense and implied in the meaning of the verb.
one Mnason of Cyprus ] This man belonged to Cyprus, but had now his home in Jerusalem. Just as Barnabas and his sister Mary, the mother of John Mark, who were also Cypriotes, seem to have done.
an old disciple ] Rev. Ver. “ early.” He had become a Christian in the first days of the gospel preaching, in the beginning of the Church of Jerusalem.
with lodge ] At such a time this was no unnecessary precaution, for at the Feast Jerusalem was certain to be full of people, and by this arrangement made in Csarea, the whole party was saved the trouble of searching for a lodging when they arrived. To find a house in which the Apostle and those with him might all be received would probably have been attended with much difficulty. To be the owner of such a house Mnason must have been one of the wealthier members of the congregation. His name is Greek, and he was most likely one of the Hellenists. Or, if he were a Jew, Mnason was perhaps substituted for some Jewish name, e. g. Manasseh.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
One Mnason of Cyprus – The original in this place would be better translated, And brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, etc. It is evident that, though Mnason was originally of Cyprus, yet he was now an inhabitant of Jerusalem, and was well known to the disciples at Caesarea. It is possible that he might have been at Caesarea, and accompanied Paul to Jerusalem; but the more correct interpretation of the passage is, that Paul and his fellow-travelers were conducted to his house in Jerusalem, and that he was not with them in the journey.
Of Cyprus – See the notes on Act 4:36.
An old disciple – An early convert to Christianity – perhaps one who was converted before the crucifixion of the Saviour.
With whom we should lodge – In whose house we were to take up our abode. The rites of hospitality were shown in a distinguished manner by the early Christians.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 21:16
Mnason of Cyprus, am old disciple.
Mnason, the aged Cypriote
teaches us–
I. How that with increasing years should come an increasing delight in learning of Christ. Mnason was a disciple still, although there is a tradition that he was one of the seventy, and there was much for him yet to learn, which was probably his motive for meeting Paul. His name is suggestive in this light–diligent seeker, exhorter, or one who remembers. Those who begin early to runt often slacken their pace as the journey lengthens. Time is the test of true piety, and Mnasons stood this test. Some live only on a past experience; years ago they were justified by faith, and yet they have not passed far on from the entrance to Christianity. But Mnason appears to have been known as a disciple rich in experience and knowledge, and still progressing.
II. How that with added years should come increasing desire to be helpful to others. Readily Mnason seems to have placed his house at Pauls disposal and to have undertaken a long journey to meet him. Nor was it without risk, as subsequent events prove. Many are ready to help only when it colts nothing but words or a small coin. And then the aged are not always of a helpful spirit. Their sympathies are with the past, and their antipathies with the present, and so their influence is depressing. Old age often brings moroseness, but the spirit of this old man must have not only cheered St. Paul and doubtless others, but have been a joy to himself in advancing years (Psa 92:14).
III. That a good old age is suggestive of immortality. Surely there is something beyond, some further use for, the matured knowledge and experience, and the high attainments of Mnason and such as he. Those who come to the grave as shocks of corn fully ripe will be re-sown to give a larger, richer harvest in eternity. Conclusion:
1. In some aged men the results seem unworthy of the length of life. Days have come and gone like the tides that ebb and flow, and there is no more change in them than in the water-worn rock.
2. Some aged men are not old disciples, but old sinners. Yet thank God even then old men by penitence and faith may become disciples. (F. Hastings.)
Aged Christians
There is not a nobler sight in the world than an aged and experienced Christian who, having been sifted in the sieve of temptation, stands forth as the confirmer of the assaulted, testifying from his own trials the reality of religion, and meeting by his warnings and directions and consolations the cases of all who may be tempted to doubt it. (R. Cecil, M. A.)
Piety in the aged
1. Confirms and illustrates the promise which God has made of long life to those who fear His name.
2. Crowns those who possess it with especial honour.
3. Commends religion to others.
4. Furnishes a beautiful illustration of the maturity and ripeness of Christian character. (L. H. Reid.)
An old disciple
There is something that stimulates the imagination in these mere shadows of men. What a strange fate to be made immortal by a line in this book. The figure is drawn with a couple of hasty strokes, but even this dim form has a word to say to us. His name and birthplace show that he was a foreign Jew speaking Greek–a Hellenist like Paul. He comes from Cyprus, where he may have been a friend of Barnabas.
1. He was an old disciple–a disciple from the beginning, i.e., one of the original and now rapidly diminishing group who, thirty years or more ago, had seen Christ and been drawn to Him. And the way in which he is mentioned suggests that there was a certain honour conceded by the second generation of Christians to the first.
2. He must have been advanced in life. He had emigrated to Jerusalem, and there must have had the means and heart to exercise a liberal hospitality. He does Hot seem to have known Paul, for the most probable rendering is brought us to Mnason, implying that this was the first introduction. But the old man had full sympathy with the apostle, and his adhesion would carry no small might.
I. Hold fast to your early faith and to the Christ whom you have known.
1. Many a year had passed and how much had come and gone–Calvary, Olivet, Pentecost–and he had changed from buoyant youth to sober old age. His feelings and outlook were different; his old friends had mostly gone, but one thing remained and that was Christ, the one God-laid foundation, on whom whosoever buildeth need never change with changing time.
2. There is no happier experience than that of the old man who has around him the old loves, confidences, joys. But who can secure that blessed unity if he depend on the love and help of even the dearest. There is but one way of making all our days one, and that is by taking the abiding Christ for ours and abiding in Him.
3. Holding fast by early convictions does not mean stiffening in them. There is plenty of room for advancement in Christ. Grow in grace, etc.
II. The welcome that we should be ready to give to new thoughts and ways.
1. It would have been very natural for this original disciple to have said, I do not like your new-fangled ways. Is it not likely that we should understand the gospel without this new man coming to set us right? I am too old to go in with these changes. All the more honourable is it that he should have been ready to shelter the great champion of the Gentiles. It was not every old disciple that would have done as much.
2. Does not this flexibility of mind when united with constancy in the old creed make an admirable combination? It is hard to blend them, but the fluttering leaves and bending branches need a firm stem and deep roots.
III. The beauty that may dwell in an obscure life. There is nothing to be said about this old man but that he was a disciple; and is not that enough? The world may remember very little about us a year after we are gone; but what does that matter if our names are written in the Book of Life with this epitaph–a disciple? What could he do? Not go into the regions beyond, like Paul; not guide the Church, like James, etc.; but he could receive a prophet in the name of a prophet, and so receive a prophets reward. The old law in Israel holds good, As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that abideth by the stuff. Conclusion: So this old disciples hospitality is made immortal, and the record of it reminds us that the smallest service done for Jesus is treasured by Him. God is not unrighteous to forget your labour of love. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
An old disciple
I. The character of Mnason.
1. In examining the account here given of Mnason, we behold, in the first place, a person of long-standing in the Church. The epithet attached to him leads us to suppose that he was one of our Lords first followers and disciples. How many things had occurred to try his attachment to the gospel! Yet, in spite of all, he kept the faith. But there was another trial of his steadfastness which he had nobly sustained. Cyprus was a place noted for the dissolute manners of its inhabitants. There unblushing wantonness was exhibited by all classes; and the young were taught to regard sensual pleasure as the chief happiness of man. In embracing the gospel he had professed his resolution to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts; and irksome to nature as the mortifications and the rigid temperance of the first Christians must have appeared, amidst the remembrance of the scenes of his early days, he persisted in the strictest sobriety, as well as in taking up his cross daily, and in following Christ.
2. In Mnason we see one who had been long a student of the gospel revelation, and who was still devoted to the study of it. He had been led to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, and that sacrifice he had never regretted. In old age the faculties decline, and the study of other subjects is felt irksome; but the great salvation can brighten the failing eye and raise the sinking heart. Mnason still waited at wisdoms gates–still lifted up his voice to God for understanding–still had his delight in the law of the Lord, and meditated in it day and night.
3. In Mnason we see one who has been long distinguished by the graces of the Christian character, and who still exercises them. Attachment to all Christian ordinances, self-denial, humility, and charity.
4. In Mnason we behold an old man still actuated by public spirit, and still eager to show kindness and hospitality. What a beautiful sight is it to mark the courtesies of the aged, and to find persons at that period mild, frank, and obliging, whom we dreaded to see cold, peevish, and austere; to behold the head flowing in compassion, not frozen in selfishness; the smile of cheerfulness on a faded countenance, and the offices of hospitality felt as a pleasure amidst their many infirmities!
II. Those objects of peculiar interest which are to be seen in an old disciple.
1. We see in him a striking proof of Gods gracious care. Hitherto hath the Lord helped. The frail bark which has accomplished a long and perilous voyage, and which is stored with the most valuable commodities of the different ports at which it has touched, which has weathered many a storm, and which is now drawing near its harbour, we mark with deep interest. Such is the old disciple. And we trust that when the days are short and gloomy, and the noise of the breakers heard from afar indicates that the ship is approaching a coast where lauding is difficult through the swell of the ocean, or the rockiness of the bottom, the Pilot who hath guided her so far will not abandon her now, but will secure to her an abundant entrance into Emmanuels haven.
2. We see in an old disciple a satisfying proof of the reality and the power of religion. How completely are the old disgusted with other pursuits, even those in which they once engaged with the greatest eagerness, and to which they were allured by the gayest promises. Such they now pronounce to be vanity and vexation of spirit. But how different is the ease with the old disciple! The objects which first excited his attention appear as estimable to him as ever, and so far from regretting any sacrifice he has made for their sake, he would make it still if he was called to it. What once filled him with rapture, when his fancy was bright and his affections were glowing, is still his solace; he hath not discovered the least insecurity in the basis on which he builds, the least uncertainty in the promises on which God hath caused him to hope, or the least oppression in the yoke which the Lord required him to take. While few worldlings have been able to recommend it to the young to devote themselves as they did to earthly things, the old disciple can say to them, Oh taste and see that God is good!
3. We see in the old disciple precious stores of experience. How instructive is his review of the course of Providence! Who can hear him talk of the families which were flourishing in the days of his youth, but whose estates and palaces are now the property of others, without feeling how foolish it is to trust in uncertain riches? Who can hear him tell how God enlarged him when he was in distress, showed him the way in which he should go, in answer to his earnest prayers for relief and for guidance, without feeling the value and acknowledging the power of prayer?
4. In the old disciple we behold a most striking contrast to the character and state of the aged transgressor. The one is like the long stagnant pool, in whose dark waters venomous creatures have been multiplying, and whose rank weeds and noxious exhaltations make it the object of disgust and terror. The other is like the stream purifying in its course, and rushing to the sea with a current clear, yet majestic.
5. In the old disciple we behold an object to whom many important offices are due from us. To such a man we owe high veneration. If we are to rise up before the old man, peculiar deference is certainly due to the old disciple. The hoary head is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness. The infirmities of age have a claim on our pity, whatever be the character of the individual in whom we trace them; but they have peculiar claims on our kindness when they are seen in those who have served their generation according to the will of God, and when they may have been hastened or aggravated by the exertions they have made in the cause of piety and humanity. In them you will meet with the grateful feeling which is so encouraging in any kind ministrations, and the sagacity and the patience which will make them yield more extensive and substantial relief. Solicit their counsels. The difficulties which now distress you once harassed them–the opposition from which you are ready to shrink they braved–the disappointment under which your hearts are sinking tried their fortitude, and they found it salutary in its elevating their hearts to God, and they are thus qualified for directing you in the season of perplexity, and for reanimating your failing courage.
6. We see in the old disciple much solemn instruction as to death and heaven. The old disciple we see standing on the verge of the grave. Useful as his course hath been it must terminate; but, instead of murmuring at this, let us bless God that it has been prolonged to such an extent. (H. Belfrage, D. D.)
A ripe old age
There is many an old philosopher, like Franklin, whose last hours are so serene, and sweet, and beautiful, as to almost make one wish to exchange youth for old age. Man should stand in the horizon of life as sometimes in summer we see the sun stand as if it had forgotten to move, lying so in vapour that it is shorn of its excessive brightness–large, round, red-looking as if it waited to cast back one more love glance on the earth. So I have seen the aged linger, so round, and rich, and bright, and beautiful, as to make youth seem poor in treasure when compared with old age. It is a great thing so to have lived that the best part of life shall be its evening. October, the ripest month of the year, and the richest in colours, is a type of what old age should be. (H. W. Beecher.)
Conversion in old age
When men grow virtuous in their old age, they are merely making a sacrifice to God of the devils leavings. (Dean Swift.)
Faithfulness in old age
Eighty and six years, was Polycarps answer when required to deny the truth, have I served my Saviour, and He hath never done me any harm; and shall I deny Him now?
Happiness of old age
As ripe fruit is sweeter than green fruit, so is age sweeter than youth, provided the youth were grafted into Christ. As harvest time is a brighter time than seed time, so is age brighter than youth; that is, if youth were a seed time for good. As the completion of a work is more glorious than the beginning, so is age more glorious than youth; that is, if the foundation of the work of God were laid in youth. As sailing into port is a happier thing than the voyage, so is age happier than youth; that is, when the voyage from youth is made with Christ at the helm. (J. Pulsford, D. D.)
Useful old age
Wilberforce remarked, I can scarcely understand why my life is spared so long, except it be to show that a man can be as happy without a fortune as with one. And soon after, when his only surviving daughter died, he writes, I have often heard that sailors on a voyage will drink, Friends astern! till they were half way over; then, Friends ahead! With me it has been Friends ahead! this long time.
Hopeless old age
There is not a more repulsive spectacle than an old man who will not forsake the world, which has already forsaken him. (J. Tholuck.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. And brought with them one Mnason, c.] It is not very likely that they would bring a man with them with whom they were to lodge in Jerusalem therefore, the text should perhaps be read as Bp. Patrick proposes: There went with us certain of the disciples of Caesarea, bringing us to one Mnason, with whom we were to lodge. This is most likely, as the text will bear this translation. But it is possible that Mnason, formerly of Cyprus, now an inhabitant of Jerusalem, might have been down at Caesarea, met the disciples, and invited them to lodge with him while they were at Jerusalem; and, having transacted his business at Caesarea, might now accompany them to Jerusalem. His being an old disciple may either refer to his having been a very early convert, probably one of those on the day of pentecost, or to his being now an old man.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either this Mnason was in their company, or rather they were brought by the disciples of Caesarea to the house of this Mnason, who was one of them that was converted when Paul and Barnabas were at Cyprus, Act 13:4; and lodgings being scarce at Jerusalem, (when all the males were to appear there in those three annual solemnities), it was no small kindness to be provided for by him.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. went with us . . . and broughtwith themrather, “brought us to.”
One Mnason of Cyprus, an olddisciple, c.not an “aged” disciple, but probably “adisciple of old standing,” perhaps one of the three thousandconverted on the day of Pentecost, or, more likely still, drawn tothe Saviour Himself during His lifetime. He had come, probably, withthe other Cyprians (Ac 11:20),to Antioch, “preaching the Lord Jesus unto the Grecians,”and now he appears settled at Jerusalem.
Ac21:17-40. PAUL REPORTSTHE EVENTS OF HISTHIRD MISSIONARYJOURNEYINTHE TEMPLE,PURIFYING HIMSELFFROM A JEWISH VOW,HE ISSEIZED BY A MOBAND BEATEN TO THEDANGER OF HISLIFETHEUPROAR BECOMINGUNIVERSAL, THE ROMANCOMMANDANT HASHIM BROUGHTIN CHAINS TO THEFORTRESS, FROM THE STAIRSOF WHICH HEIS PERMITTEDTO ADDRESS THEPEOPLE.
The apostle was full of anxietyabout this visit to Jerusalem, from the numerous propheticintimations of danger awaiting him, and having reason to expect thepresence at this feast of the very parties from whose virulent ragehe had once and again narrowly escaped with his life. Hence we findhim asking the Roman Christians to wrestle with him in prayer, “forthe Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, thathe might be delivered from them that believed not in Judea,“as well as “that his service which he had for Jerusalem (thegreat collection for the poor saints there) might be accepted of thesaints” (Rom 15:30 Rom 15:31).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea,…. Members of the church at Caesarea; of the church here, [See comments on Ac 10:48]. To which may be added the account of the pastors or bishops of this church, as given by Reland o; Theophilus, who was in the council held at Caesarea, in the year 198; Agricola, who subscribed in the council at Ancyra, in the year 314; though some, he says, do not acknowledge this Agricola, but give the order of them after Theophilus thus; Theoctistus, Domnus, Theotecnus, Agapius, Eusebius; which last was in the council at Palestine, in the year 318, and in the council at Nice, in the year 325. Acacius succeeded him, and was in a little council at Seleucia, in the year 359, and in another at Antioch, in the year 363. Thalassius subscribed in the council at Constantinople, in the year 381. Eulogius, or perhaps Euzoius, was in the council at Diospolis, in the year 415. Glyco, bishop of this church, subscribed by Zozimus in the Chalcedon council, held in the year 451. Mention is made of Irenaeus, who presided over it in the acts of the same council; and Elias, another bishop of it, subscribed in the council at Jerusalem, in the year 536; and there is an account of John bishop of this church, in the acts of the council at Constantinople, in the year 553.
And brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus; the name of Mnason is Greek; there was one of this name among the disciples of Aristotle, who was of Phocea, or Phocis, a place in Greece p; and another called Mnaseas, which seems to be the same whom Ammonius q makes mention of; and we frequently read of Mnaseas, the name of an author in Greek writers, and Menestheus, in:
“Now when Apollonius the son of Menestheus was sent into Egypt for the coronation of king Ptolemeus Philometor, Antiochus, understanding him not to be well affected to his affairs, provided for his own safety: whereupon he came to Joppa, and from thence to Jerusalem:” (2 Maccabees 4:21)
all which are so called from remembrance, and signify one that has a memory, is mindful of, and remembers things; so Zachariah with the Jews, is a name that is taken from remembrance, as this: some copies read Jasson, for Mnason. This Mnason was an
old disciple; not of Aristotle, or of his sect of philosophers, or any other, but of Jesus Christ; probably he might have seen Christ in the flesh, and he is by some thought to be one of the seventy disciples; or at least he might be one of those who became disciples and followers of Christ; through the ministry of Paul and Barnabas in that island, Ac 13:4 though that seems scarcely long enough ago, being but fifteen years before this time, to denominate him an old disciple:
with whom we should lodge; when come to Jerusalem; for though he was of the island of Cyprus, as Barnabas was, Ac 4:36, yet he dwelt at Jerusalem; and if he was one of the seventy disciples, it should seem that he had not sold his house at Jerusalem, when others did; nor did all that had houses and land, nor were they obliged to do it; or he might have bought or hired one since; however, he had one at Jerusalem, and here the apostle and his company were fixed to lodge, during their stay there; and there was the more reason to provide for a lodging at this time, because of the feast of Pentecost, when the city was full of people: unless this is to be understood of any place by the way, where they should lodge; since Beza’s ancient copy adds, “and coming to a certain village, we were with one Mnason”.
o Palestina Illustrata, l. 3. p. 676, &c. p Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 3. c. 19. q in voce Nereides.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Certain of the disciples ( ). The genitive here occurs with understood as often in the Greek idiom, the partitive genitive used as nominative (Robertson, Grammar, p. 502).
Bringing (). Nominative plural participle agreeing with understood, not with case of .
One Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge ( ). A thoroughly idiomatic Greek idiom, incorporation and attraction of the antecedent into the relative clause (Robertson, Grammar, p. 718). is really the object of or the accusative with or understood and should be accusative, but it is placed in the clause after the relative and in the same locative case with the relative (due to ‘, beside, with). Then the rest agrees in case with . He was originally from Cyprus, but now in Caesarea. The Codex Bezae adds (to a certain village) and makes it mean that they were to lodge with Mnason at his home there about halfway to Jerusalem. This may be true. The use of the subjunctive (first aorist passive of , to entertain strangers as in Acts 10:6; Acts 10:23; Acts 10:32 already) may be volitive of purpose with the relative (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 955, 989). The use of for “early” may refer to the fact that he was one of the original disciples at Pentecost as Peter in 15:7 uses (early days) to refer to his experience at Ceasarea in Ac 10. “As the number of the first disciples lessened, the next generation accorded a sort of honour to the survivors” (Furneaux).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Bringing with them, etc. This would imply that Mnason was at Caesarea, and accompanied Paul and his companions to Jerusalem. It seems better to suppose that the disciples accompanied the apostle in order to introduce him to Mnason, whom they knew. Render, conducting us to Mnason, with whom we should lodge.
Old [] . Better, as Rev., early. The rendering old might be taken to mean aged; whereas the word means of long standing.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “There went with us also,” (sunelthon de kai ton matoeton apo kaisareias sun humin) “Then there also went up with us some of the colleague disciples from Caesarea,” meaning disciples of the Lord from the church of Caesarea which was in close association or fellowship with (Gk. sun) the missionaries.
2) “Certain of the disciples of Caesarea,” (ton metheton apo kaisareias sun hemin) “Some of the disciples from Caesarea with (Gk. sun, in affinity with) or harmony with us,” the band of missionaries and church messengers who were carrying help to the needy Jewish brethren in the Jerusalem area.
3) “And brought with them one,” (agontes apr’ ho) “And they (the Caesarea disciples) brought along with them one,” one person,
4) Mnason of Cyprus,” (Mnasoni tini kuprio) “Mnason a certain Cypriote, a citizen or former native of Cyprus, of whom nothing further is known, or may be known till the hour of rewarding, 1Co 3:8.
5) “An old disciple,” (archaion mathele) “an early disciple,” one now growing old, an early disciple, devout, and caring for the Master’s cause, Act 11:19. What a devotion to the Spirit of the Master to lodge, to show charity, the love of God, for God’s work and workers, even down to old age, who showed the charity of Christ, Joh 13:34-35; Mat 25:34-40; 1Ti 4:12.
6) “With whom we should lodge.” (ksenisthomen) “With whom we might be lodged safely,” one in fellowship, concord, association, and harmony with our belief and objectives, one that stuck by like a brother, Pro 16:31; Pro 17:17; Pro 18:24; Heb 13:2.
HAPPINESS OF OLD AGE
As ripe fruit is sweeter than green fruit, so is age sweeter than youth, provided the youth were grafted into Christ. As harvest-time is a brighter time than seed-time, so is age brighter than youth; that is, if youth were a seed-time for good. As the completion of a work is more glorious than the beginning, so is age more glorious than youth; that is, if the foundation of the work of God were laid in youth. As sailing into port is a happier thing than the voyage, so is age happier than youth; that is, when the voyage from youth is made with Christ at the helm.
– Pulsford.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(16) One Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.Better, perhaps, an early disciple. The word for old refers less to personal age than to his having been a disciple from the beginning of the Churchs history. He may accordingly have been among those men of Cyprus who came to Antioch, and were among the first to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. (See Note on Act. 11:20.) We may fairly infer that he was one of those who had been from the beginning among the eye-witnesses and ministers of the word to whom St. Luke refers as his informants (Luk. 1:2). If so, it is interesting, as showing that our Lords disciples were not limited to the natives of Galilee and Juda. It lies on the surface of the narrative that Mnason had a house at Jerusalem in which he could receive St. Paul and his companions. The arrangement seems to have been made as the best course that could be taken to minimise the inevitable danger to which the Apostle was exposing himself. In that house at least he might be sure of personal safety, and the men from Csarea would form a kind of escort as he went to and fro in the city.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Brought with them More correctly, brought us to Mnason, with whom, etc. These certain Cesarean disciples or Christians did not bring Mnason from Cesarea, but brought Paul and friends to Mnason’s house.
An old disciple An ancient Christian. He may have been one of Christ’s own hearers and followers, a probability not contradicted by his being of Cyprus.
The retinue with which Paul now entered Jerusalem was very large. Besides the original seven from Europe, (Act 20:4,) there were Luke and a number of brethren from Cesarea. They came apparently as an embassy from the Church of the Gentiles, headed by the apostle of the Gentiles, to James, the representative of Christian Judaism at the capital of the religious world. It came bearing the money collections effected by Paul. (See note on Act 19:21, and Act 24:27.) We doubt not that the number was large in order to be impressive and weighty. Paul had a “ sister’s son” now in Jerusalem, (Act 23:16😉 and there might have been a sister whose home was too small to entertain so large a body of guests.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And there went with us also certain of the disciples from Caesarea, bringing with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.’
They were accompanied by certain disciples from Caesarea, together with Mnason who was from Cyprus, but had a house where they could lodge. He was an ‘early disciple’, probably from Pentecost days. He had invited them to stay with him. In view of the fact that Paul was a marked man his bravery in doing this must be recognised. All these men were willing to hazard their lives and their futures for Christ.
The Jerusalem Visit
That in recording details of Paul’s fifth Jerusalem visit Luke’s mind was fixed on the main purposes of his narrative comes out quite clearly in the fact that he ignored the bringing of the Collection to the church in Jerusalem. The Collection for the people of God in Jerusalem and Judaea, in the circumstances in which they found themselves as a result of famine and the constant disturbances that were taking place, had taken up much of Paul’s time (see 1Co 1:1-5; 2 Corinthians 8-9), and he clearly considered it of prime importance as a means of cementing unity between the Jewish Christians and their Gentile counterparts. And yet Luke totally ignores it when describing the Jerusalem visit in Acts.
This is another of Luke’s ‘silences’, designed to ensure that the emphasis does not go in the wrong place (compare the deliberate lack of a direct mention of the Holy Spirit as such in Luke 13-24, even when approaching the hour of His coming). He was here rather concerned to demonstrate the spiritual oneness of the church (Act 21:17-18), the success of the Good News (Act 21:19-20), and the circumstances that led up to Paul’s arrest (Act 21:21 onwards), in order to stress Jerusalem’s repeated and final rejection of the messengers of the Messiah. He was concerned to demonstrate that what was true in the early days after Pentecost was still true. Love of the brethren was still strong, fruitfulness and expansion were still taking place among both Jews and Gentiles, and the retaliation of Satan, which finally brings about God’s will, was still occurring. But above all he wanted to demonstrate that Jerusalem was no longer central in God’s purposes. These things are what Acts has been all about.
The rejection of its Messiah by Jerusalem, and of Jerusalem by its Messiah, had been made clear in chapter 12. Peter had then ‘departed for another place’. However, there was a sense in which Paul’s coming had given it another opportunity. But the Temple would now symbolically ‘close its doors’ against God’s messengers for ever, and the only Apostle left in Jerusalem would be transferred to Rome. Furthermore, in the parallel passage in Act 26:28-32 (for parallels see introduction to Act 19:21 and Introduction) King Agrippa II (son of the king in chapter 12) who even now controlled the appointment of High Priests and their vestments and had overall oversight over the Temple and its worship, would choose to do the same. Both Jerusalem and its King again said no to Jesus Christ. So while the church in Jerusalem welcomes Him, Jerusalem itself rejects Him once again and finally. All that remains for it is for it to be destroyed. Stephen had stressed the dual offer to Israel of its Saviours (see his speech), and especially of the Righteous One. Luke in Acts brings out His dual post-resurrection rejection, in chapter 12 and here.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 21:16. Brought with them one Mnason, &c. Mnason was a native of Cyprus, but an inhabitant of Jerusalem, who probablyhad been converted either by Christ or the apostles, at the first opening of the gospel. With St. Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem at this time, ended his third apostolical journey.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
16 There 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.
Ver. 16. An old disciple ] A gray-headed experienced Christian, a father, 1Jn 2:13 . Such as those mentioned Psa 92:12-14 . A Christian hath his degrees of growth. Ye have his conception,Gal 4:19Gal 4:19 ; birth,1Pe 1:131Pe 1:13 ; childhood, 1Co 3:1-2 ; youth or well grown age, when he is past the spoon, 1Jn 2:13 ; his full grown age, Eph 4:13 ; old age, as1Jn 2:131Jn 2:13 , and here. An “old disciple,” and yet a disciple still not too old to learn. Solon said, I wax old ever learning somewhat. a Julianus, the lawyer, said, that when he had one foot in the grave, yet he would have the other in the school. Chytreus, when he lay dying, lifted up himself to hear the discourse of some friends that visited him; and said that he should die with so much the better cheer if he might better his knowledge by what they were speaking of. (Melch. Adam.)
With whom he should lodge ] viz. When we came to Jerusalem. This Mnason was another Gaius, the host of the Church. The Waldenses were so spread in Germany that they could travel from Colen to Milan in Italy, and every night lodge with hosts of their own profession, which was a great comfort to them. (Cade of the Church.)
a .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16. ] Two renderings are given to the latter clause of this verse: (1) making , &c. depend on , and agreeing by attr. with , as E. V., ‘ and brought with them one Mnason, with whom we should lodge ’ (so Beza, Calvin, Wolf, Schtt., &c.): and (2) resolving the attraction into , . ‘ bringing us to Mnason,’ &c. (So Grot., Valcknaer, Bengel, De Wette, Meyer, al.) Both are legitimate: and it is difficult to choose between them. The probability of Mnason being a resident at Jerusalem, and of the Csarean brethren going to introduce the company to him, seems to favour the latter : as also does the fact that Luke much more frequently uses with a person followed by a preposition than absolutely. Of Mnason nothing further is known.
probably implies that he had been a disciple , and had accompanied our Lord during His ministry. See ch. Act 11:15 , where the term is applied to the time of the Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 21:16 . .: A. and R.V. render “bringing with them Mnason with whom we should lodge,” but Meyer Wendt, so Page and Rendall, render “bringing us to the house of Mnason,” etc., cf. also Spitta, Apostelgeschichte , p. 234. This is more in accordance with Codex [356] , on which see critical note = . . . . ., see Blass, Gram. , pp. 171, 213, and Winer-Schmiedel, p. 229. Vulgate (so Erasmus, Calvin) renders “adducentes secum apud quem hospitaremur Mnasonem,” but harsh, and presupposes that Mnason was at Csarea. , Att. , in late MS., and , a name common among the Greeks, and Mnason was probably a Hellenist. , cf. Act 15:7 , may mean that he was an early disciple, R.V., or even from the beginning, the great Pentecost, Act 11:15 (Humphrey), see also Ramsay, St. Paul , p. 303; he may have been converted by his fellow-countryman Barnabas. If Blass is right in [357] , Act 11:2 , he may have been a convert instructed by St. Peter (and in this sense ).
[356] Codex Claromontanus (sc. vi.), a Grco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.
[357] R(omana), in Blass, a first rough copy of St. Luke.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Acts
AN OLD DISCIPLE
Act 21:16
There is something that stimulates the imagination in these mere shadows of men that we meet in the New Testament story. What a strange fate that is to be made immortal by a line in this book- immortal and yet so unknown! We do not hear another word about this host of Paul’s, but his name will be familiar to men’s ears till the world’s end. This figure is drawn in the slightest possible outline, with a couple of hasty strokes of the pencil. But if we take even these few bare words and look at them, feeling that there is a man like ourselves sketched in them, I think we can get a real picture out of them, and that even this dim form crowded into the background of the Apostolic story may have a word or two to say to us.
His name and his birthplace show that he belonged to the same class as Paul, that is, he was a Hellenist, or a Jew by descent, but born on Gentile soil, and speaking Greek. He came from Cyprus, the native island of Barnabas, who may have been a friend of his. He was an ‘old disciple,’ which does not mean simply that he was advanced in life, but that he was ‘a disciple from the beginning,’ one of the original group of believers. If we interpret the word strictly, we must suppose him to have been one of the rapidly diminishing nucleus, who thirty years or more ago had seen Christ in the flesh, and been drawn to Him by His own words. Evidently the mention of the early date of his conversion suggests that the number of his contemporaries was becoming few, and that there were a certain honour and distinction conceded by the second generation of the Church to the survivors of the primitive band. Then, of course, as one of the earliest believers, he must, by this time, have been advanced in life. A Cypriote by birth, he had emigrated to, and resided in a village on the road to Jerusalem; and must have had means and heart to exercise a liberal hospitality there. Though a Hellenist like Paul he does not seem to have known the Apostle before, for the most probable rendering of the context is that the disciples from Caesarea, who were travelling with the Apostle from that place to Jerusalem, ‘brought us to Mnason,’ implying that this was their first introduction to each other. But though probably unacquainted with the great teacher of the Gentiles-whose ways were looked on with much doubt by many of the Palestinian Christians-the old man, relic of the original disciples as he was, had full sympathy with Paul, and opened his house and his heart to receive him. His adhesion to the Apostle would no doubt carry weight with ‘the many thousands of Jews which believed, and were all zealous of the law,’ and was as honourable to him as it was helpful to Paul.
Now if we put all this together, does not the shadowy figure begin to become more substantial? and does it not preach to us some lessons that we may well take to heart?
I. The first thing which this old disciple says to us out of the misty distance is: Hold fast to your early faith, and to the Christ whom you have known.
‘We all are changed by still degrees;
All but the basis of the soul,’
There is no fairer nor happier experience than that of the old man who has around him the old loves, the old confidences, and some measure of the old joys. But who can secure that blessed unity in his life if he depend on the love and help of even the dearest, or on the light of any creature for his sunshine? There is but one way of making all our days one, because one love, one hope, one joy, one aim binds them all together, and that is by taking the abiding Christ for ours, and abiding in Him all our days. Holding fast by the early convictions does not mean stiffening in them. There is plenty of room for advancement in Christ. No doubt Mnason, when he was first a disciple, knew but very little of the meaning and worth of his Master and His work, compared with what he had learned in all these years. And our true progress consists, not in growing away from Jesus but in growing up into Him, not in passing through and leaving behind our first convictions of Him as Saviour, but in having these verified by the experience of years, deepened and cleared, unfolded and ordered into a larger, though still incomplete, whole. We may make our whole lives helpful to that advancement and blessed shall we be if the early faith is the faith that brightens till the end, and brightens the end. How beautiful it is to see a man, below whose feet time is crumbling away, holding firmly by the Lord whom he has loved and served all his days, and finding that the pillar of cloud, which guided him while he lived, begins to glow in its heart of fire as the shadows fall, and is a pillar of light to guide him when he comes to die! Dear friends, whether you be near the starting or near the prize of your Christian course, ‘cast not away your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.’ See to it that the ‘knowledge of the Father,’ which is the ‘little children’s’ possession, passes through the strength of youth, and the ‘victory over the world’ into the calm knowledge of Him ‘that is from the beginning,’ wherein the fathers find their earliest convictions deepened and perfected, ‘Grow in grace and in the knowledge’ of Him, whom to know ever so imperfectly is eternal life, whom to know a little better is the true progress for men, whom to know more and more fully is the growth and gladness and glory of the heavens. Look at this shadowy figure that looks out on us here, and listen to his far-off voice ‘exhorting us all that with purpose of heart we should cleave unto the Lord.’
II. But there is another and, as some might think, opposite lesson to be gathered from this outline sketch, namely, The welcome which we should be ready to give to new thoughts and ways.
Now does not this flexibility of mind and openness of nature to welcome new ways of work, when united with the persistent constancy in his old creed, make an admirable combination? It is one rare enough at any age, but especially in elderly men. We are always disposed to rend apart what ought never to be separated, the inflexible adherence to a fixed centre of belief, and the freest ranging around the whole changing circumference. The man of strong convictions is apt to grip every trifle of practice and every unimportant bit of his creed with the same tenacity with which he holds its vital heart, and to take obstinacy for firmness, and dogged self-will for faithfulness to truth. The man who welcomes new light, and reaches forward to greet new ways, is apt to delight in having much fluid that ought to be fixed, and to value himself on a ‘liberality’ which simply means that he has no central truth and no rooted convictions. And as men grow older they stiffen more and more, and have to leave the new work for new hands, and the new thoughts for new brains. That is all in the order of nature, but so much the finer is it when we do see old Christian men who join to their firm grip of the old Gospel the power of welcoming, and at least bidding God-speed to, new thoughts and new workers and new ways of work.
The union of these two characteristics should be consciously aimed at by us all. Hold unchanging, with a grasp that nothing can relax, by Christ our life and our all; but with that tenacity of mind, try to cultivate flexibility too. Love the old, but be ready to welcome the new. Do not invest your own or other people’s habits of thought or forms of work with the same sanctity which belongs to the central truths of our salvation; do not let the willingness to entertain new light lead you to tolerate any changes there. It is hard to blend the two virtues together, but they are meant to be complements, not opposites, to each other. The fluttering leaves and bending branches need a firm stem and deep roots. The firm stem looks noblest in its unmoved strength when it is contrasted with a cloud of light foliage dancing in the wind. Try to imitate the persistency and the open mind of that ‘old disciple’ who was so ready to welcome and entertain the Apostle of the Gentile Churches.
III. But there is still another lesson which, I think, this portrait may suggest, and that is, the beauty that may dwell in an obscure life.
The world may remember very little about us a year after we are gone. No thought, no deed may be connected with our names but in some narrow circle of loving hearts. There may be no place for us in any record written with a man’s pen. But what does that matter, if our names, dear friends, are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, with this for sole epitaph, ‘a disciple’? That single phrase is the noblest summary of a life. A thinker? a hero? a great man? a millionaire? No, a ‘disciple.’ That says all. May it be your epitaph and mine!
What Mnason could do he did. It was not his vocation to go into the ‘regions beyond,’ like Paul; to guide the Church, like James; to put his remembrances of his Master in a book, like Matthew; to die for Jesus, like Stephen. But he could open his house for Paul and his company, and so take his share in their work. ‘He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward.’ He that with understanding and sympathy welcomes and sustains the prophet, shows thereby that he stands on the same spiritual level, and has the makings of a prophet in him, though he want the intellectual force and may never open his lips to speak the burden of the Lord. Therefore he shall be one in reward as he is in spirit. The old law in Israel is the law for the warfare of Christ’s soldiers. ‘As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that abideth by the stuff: they shall part alike.’ The men in the rear who guard the camp and keep the communications open, may deserve honours, and crosses, and prize-money as much as their comrades who led the charge that cut through the enemy’s line and scattered their ranks. It does not matter, so far as the real spiritual worth of the act is concerned, what we do, but only why we do it. All deeds are the same which are done from the same motive and with the same devotion; and He who judges, not by our outward actions but by the springs from which they come, will at last bracket together as equals many who were widely separated here in the form of their service and the apparent magnitude of their work.
‘She hath done what she could.’ Her power determined the measure and the manner of her work. One precious thing she had, and only one, and she broke her one rich possession that she might pour the fragrant oil over His feet. Therefore her useless deed of utter love and uncalculating self-sacrifice was crowned by praise from His lips whose praise is our highest honour, and the world is still ‘filled with the odour of the ointment.’
So this old disciple’s hospitality is strangely immortal, and the record of it reminds us that the smallest service done for Jesus is remembered and treasured by Him. Men have spent their lives to win a line in the world’s chronicles which are written on sand, and have broken their hearts because they failed; and this passing act of one obscure Christian, in sheltering a little company of travel-stained wayfarers, has made his name a possession for ever. ‘Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not’; but let us fill our little corners, doing our unnoticed work for love of our Lord, careless about man’s remembrance or praise, because sure of Christ’s, whose praise is the only fame, whose remembrance is the highest reward. ‘God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
of = from. Greek. apo. App-104.
and brought = bringing.
with them. Omit.
one. Greek. tis App-123.
Mnason. Nothing more is known of him.
of Cyprus = a Cypriote, as in Act 4:36; Act 11:20.
old. Greek. archaios. Not referring to his age but to his standing in the Christian assembly. An early disciple.
lodge. Greek. xenizo. See note on Act 10:6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
16.] Two renderings are given to the latter clause of this verse: (1) making , &c. depend on , and agreeing by attr. with , as E. V., and brought with them one Mnason, with whom we should lodge (so Beza, Calvin, Wolf, Schtt., &c.): and (2) resolving the attraction into , . bringing us to Mnason, &c. (So Grot., Valcknaer, Bengel, De Wette, Meyer, al.) Both are legitimate: and it is difficult to choose between them. The probability of Mnason being a resident at Jerusalem, and of the Csarean brethren going to introduce the company to him, seems to favour the latter: as also does the fact that Luke much more frequently uses with a person followed by a preposition than absolutely. Of Mnason nothing further is known.
probably implies that he had been a disciple , and had accompanied our Lord during His ministry. See ch. Act 11:15, where the term is applied to the time of the Pentecostal effusion of the Spirit.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 21:16. ) viz. .- ) Resolve the words thus, , , …-, an ancient disciple) A beautiful eulogium.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
of the: Act 21:8, Act 10:24, Act 10:48
Cyprus: Act 21:3, Act 11:19, Act 15:39
an old: Psa 71:17, Psa 71:18, Psa 92:14, Pro 16:31, Rom 16:7, Phm 1:9, 1Jo 2:13, 1Jo 2:14
Reciprocal: Psa 37:25 – I have Psa 119:121 – I have Zec 10:9 – sow Act 4:36 – Cyprus Act 20:38 – and Act 27:4 – Cyprus
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6
Act 21:16. Mnason was formerly of the island of Cyprus but was now living in Jerusalem. He was returning home with this group and arrangements were made for them to stay with him.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 21:16. There went with us also certain of the disciples of Csarea, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge. This rendering of the Greek words is a possible one. A simpler way, however, of translating the original, and one, too, that affords a better sense, is: There went with us also certain of the disciples of Csarea, conducting us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge. The chief object apparently of the Csarean brethren in accompanying Paul to Jerusalem, was to introduce them to this Mnason, who was prepared to receive them as his guests. Mnason was no doubt an important person in the Jerusalem Church; he is styled an old or an early disciple, and was possibly converted during the life of our Lord Himself. Mnason is a Greek name, he was therefore most probably an Hellenist or Greek-speaking Jew. Professor Plumptre thinks we may fairly infer that he was one of those who had been from the beginning among the eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word, to whom St. Luke refers as his informants (Luk 1:2). If so, it is interesting as showing that our Lords disciples were not limited to the natives of Galilee and Juda.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 15
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 16
An old disciple; an early disciple.–With whom we should lodge; that is, at Jerusalem.