Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 21:20
And 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:
20. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord ] The oldest MSS. read God. They took up the strain of thanksgiving which had run through all the Apostle’s story.
and said unto him ] Their anxiety makes itself apparent at once, and we come here face to face with what must have been one of the greatest difficulties for the early Christians. Before Jerusalem was destroyed there must ever have been at that centre a party zealous for the law, with whom labour among the Gentiles would find small favour.
Thou seest, brother ] The verb is not the ordinary one for to see. It implies that there had been an opportunity for the Apostle to behold some Christian gathering. At this feast the Christians would have as much interest in a commemorative assembly as the Jews.
how many thousands ] The Greek is “myriads,” but the word is used indefinitely, like our “thousand,” to signify a large number.
of Jews there are which believe ] The most authoritative Greek text is rendered by the Rev. Ver. “ there are among the Jews of them which have believed.” These were persons who, as was not unnatural, accepted Christianity as the supplement of Judaism, but made no break with their old faith, of the observances of which their life-long training had made them tenacious. To such men, as Christianity rested on the Old Testament Scripture, there would seem little need to make a rent between their old life and the new.
and they are all zealous of ( for) the law ] i.e. rigorous maintainers of all the ceremonial of the Mosaic code. The word is the same as the name of the sect, Zealots.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They glorified the Lord – They gave praise to the Lord for what he had done. They saw new proofs of his goodness and mercy, and they rendered him thanks for all that had been accomplished. There was no jealousy that it had been done by the instrumentality of Paul. True piety will rejoice in the spread of the gospel, and in the conversion of sinners, by whatever instrumentality it may be effected.
Thou seest, brother – The language of tenderness in this address, recognizing Paul as a fellow-laborer and fellow-Christian, implies a wish that Paul would do all that could be done to avoid giving offence, and to conciliate the favor of his countrymen.
How many thousands – The number of converts at this time must have been very great. Twenty-five years before this, 3,000 had been converted at one time Acts 2, and afterward the number had swelled to some more thousands, Act 4:4. The assertion that there were then many thousands, implies that the work so signally begun on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem had not ceased, and that many more had been converted to the Christian faith.
Which believe – Who are Christians. They are spoken of as believers, or as having faith in Christ, in contradistinction from those who rejected him, and whose characteristic trait it was that they were unbelievers.
And they are all zealous of the law – They still observe the Law of Moses. The reference here is to the law respecting circumcision, sacrifices, distinctions of meats and days, festivals, etc. It may seem remarkable that they should still continue to observe those rites, since it was the manifest design of Christianity to abolish them. But we are to remember:
(1) That those rites had been appointed by God, and that they were trained to their observance.
(2) That the apostles conformed to them while they remained at Jerusalem, and did not deem it best to set themselves violently against them, Act 3:1; Luk 24:53.
(3) That the question about their observance had never been agitated at Jerusalem. It was only among the Gentile converts that the question had risen, and there it must arise, for if they were to be observed, they must have been imposed upon them by authority.
(4) The decision of the council Acts 15 related only to the Gentile converts. It did not touch the question whether those rites were to be observed by the Jewish converts.
(5) It was to be presumed that as the Christian religion became better understood – that as its large, free, and catholic nature became more and more developed, the special institutions of Moses would be laid aside of course, without agitation and without tumult. Had the question been agitated at Jerusalem, it would have excited tenfold opposition to Christianity, and would have rent the Christian church into factions, and greatly retarded the advance of the Christian doctrine. We are to remember also:
(6) That, in the arrangement of Divine Providence, the time was drawing near which was to destroy the temple, the city, and the nation, which was to put an end to sacrifices, and effectually to close forever the observance of the Mosaic rites. As this destruction was so near, and as it would be so effectual an argument against the observance of the Mosaic rites, the Great Head of the church did not suffer the question of their obligation to be needlessly agitated among the disciples at Jerusalem.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. How many thousands] ; How many myriads, how many times 10,000. This intimates that there had been a most extraordinary and rapid work even among the Jews; but what is here spoken is not to be confined to the Jews of Jerusalem, but to all that had come from different parts of the land to be present at this pentecost.
They are all zealous of the law] The Jewish economy was not yet destroyed; nor had God as yet signified that the whole of its observances were done away. He continued to tolerate that dispensation, which was to be in a certain measure in force till the destruction of Jerusalem; and from that period it was impossible for them to observe their own ritual. Thus God abolished the Mosaic dispensation, by rendering, in the course of his providence, the observance of it impossible.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Glorified the Lord; acknowledging all in that great work of the conversion of the Gentiles to have been from God; and that Paul that had planted, and Apollos that had watered, were nothing, 1Co 3:6,7.
Thousands of Jews; tens of thousands, as the word does usually signify; a definite for an indefinite number, signifying very many: and considering out of what small beginnings, and by what despicable means, and all within the space of about five and twenty years, this grain of mustard seed had spread itself; and add to this, that they were Jews, that obstinate and prejudiced generation, who are here spoken of, and they were then so many, so wonderfully many, who believed.
All zealous of the law, of ceremonies, and concerning forbidden meats, &c. For the decree of the apostles, Act 15:29, concerning these things, did only respect such as were converted from paganism to the faith of Christ; and the Jews that were converted before the dispersion by Adrian, the Roman emperor, many years after this time, did not thoroughly understand their freedom from that law, but were under the burden of it, as appears by several ecclesiastical writers.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20-25. they glorified the Lord,&c.constrained to justify his course, notwithstanding theJewish complexion of the Christianity of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when they heard it,…. The narrative of the wonderful spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, and the numerous conversions of them:
they glorified the Lord; or “God”, as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions read; as Paul ascribed all to God, so they give the glory of it to him, and in this they were both agreed:
and said unto him; perhaps James in the name of them all, and as their mouth:
thou seest, brother; for so he was to James, both as a believer, and a minister of the word, and as an apostle:
how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; there were many thousands converted at Jerusalem upon the first preaching of the Gospel, after Christ’s ascension; see Ac 2:41 and the number might be much increased since; though it may be, that reference is had not only to the number of the members of the church at Jerusalem, but to all the believing Jews in Judea, who were now come up to Jerusalem, to keep the feast of Pentecost; since it is in the Greek, “how many myriads there are”, and one myriad contains ten thousand:
and they are all zealous of the law; of the law of Moses, of the ceremonial law, as Paul might see by their being at Jerusalem, to keep this feast; for though they believed in Jesus of Nazareth as the true Messiah, yet they had not light enough to see, that he was the sum and substance of all the ceremonies of the law, and that they all ended in him; and therefore were zealous in the observance of them, and could not bear to hear of their abrogation.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Glorified (). Inchoative imperfect, began to glorify God, though without special praise of Paul.
How many thousands ( ). Old word for ten thousand (Ac 19:19) and then an indefinite number like our “myriads” (this very word) as Luke 12:1; Acts 21:20; Judg 1:14; Rev 5:11; Rev 9:16. But it is a surprising statement even with allowable hyperbole, but one may recall Ac 4:4 (number of the men–not women–about five thousand); 5:14 (multitudes both of men and women); 6:7. There were undoubtedly a great many thousands of believers in Jerusalem and all Jewish Christians, some, alas, Judaizers (Acts 11:2; Acts 15:1; Acts 15:5). This list may include the Christians from neighbouring towns in Palestine and even some from foreign countries here at the Feast of Pentecost, for it is probable that Paul arrived in time for it as he had hoped. But we do not have to count the hostile Jews from Asia (verse 27) who were clearly not Christians at all.
All zealous for the law ( ). Zealots (substantive) rather than zealous (adjective) with objective genitive ( ). The word zealot is from , to burn with zeal, to boil. The Greek used for an imitator or admirer. There was a party of Zealots (developed from the Pharisees), a group of what would be called “hot-heads,” who brought on the war with Rome. One of this party, Simon Zelotes (Ac 1:13), was in the number of the twelve apostles. It is important to understand the issues in Jerusalem. It was settled at the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 21:15; Acts 21:2) that the Mosaic ceremonial law was not to be imposed upon Gentile Christians. Paul won freedom for them, but it was not said that it was wrong for Jewish Christians to go on observing it if they wished. We have seen Paul observing the passover in Philippi (Ac 20:6) and planning to reach Jerusalem for Pentecost (20:16). The Judaizers rankled under Paul’s victory and power in spreading the gospel among the Gentiles and gave him great trouble in Galatia and Corinth. They were busy against him in Jerusalem also and it was to undo the harm done by them in Jerusalem that Paul gathered the great collection from the Gentile Christians and brought it with him and the delegates from the churches. Clearly then Paul had real ground for his apprehension of trouble in Jerusalem while still in Corinth (Ro 15:25) when he asked for the prayers of the Roman Christians (verses 30-32). The repeated warnings along the way were amply justified.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And when they heard it (hoi de akousantes) “And as they heard the meticulous and specific report,” of his witnessing, his trials, and his triumphs in the work of the Lord among the Gentiles, Act 21:19.
2) “They glorified the Lord,” (edoksazon ton theon) “They glorified God,” not Paul, for he would not dare receive it; They were constrained to acknowledge that the hand of the Lord had been with and upon him in his missionary labors.
3) “And said unto him,” (eipan te auto) “Then they responded to him,” to cause him also to rejoice, Gal 6:14.
4) “Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are,” (theories adelphe) “Thou observest brother,” (posai muriades eisin en tois loudaiois) “How many ten thousands there are (exist) among the Jews,” here in Judea, in the Jerusalem area. There was a large, but indefinite number.
5) “Which believe; (ton pepisteukoton) “Who are having believed,” who have trusted Jesus Christ, and are saved, Rom 10:8-13.
6) “And they are all zealous of the law: (kai pantes zelotai tou nomou huparchousin) “And all (of them) are (exist as) zealots of the law,” the law of Moses, therefore needed some doctrinal help, Gal 3:10; Gal 3:13; Gal 3:19-25. Paul had once been a zealot, blinded by the same law, held in unbelief, Rom 10:2; Gal 1:14; Act 22:3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(20) They glorified the Lord.The better MSS. give, they glorified God. The tense implies continued action, and although its meaning would be satisfied by assuming mere ejaculations of wonder and praise, it is, at least, not improbable that there was a more formal thanksgiving.
How many thousands of Jews there are which believe.Literally, how many myriadsi.e., tens of thousands. The numbers seem large if we think of the population of Jerusalem only, but the crowds that came from all quarters to the Feast of Pentecost (see Note on Act. 2:1) would fully justify the statement. The speaker here is obviously St. James, as the president of the assembly. There is no trace of the presence of any of the Apostles.
They are all zealous of the law.Better, the word being a substantive and not an adjective, zealots for the law. The term was an almost technical one for the most rigid class of Pharisees. (See Note on Simon the Canaanite, Mat. 10:4.) So St. Paul describes himself as in this sense a zealot (Act. 22:3; Gal. 1:14).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Glorified the Lord With James and the eldership the question is clear and settled. How can they presume to set a repressing foot upon this magnificent outspread of Christianity over the Gentile world?
How many thousands It was Pentecost, a Christian as well as a Jewish anniversary, and the assembled Christian attendants from Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were doubtless present. The Greek word for thousands is in the original myriads or tens of thousands. Yet its ordinary use is that of an indefinite, but large number. The word is so used in 1Co 4:15 ; 1Co 14:19. (See note on Luk 12:1.)
Zealous Greek, zealots. A word at that day appplied to the most fanatical section of Jews, whose rebellion brought about the destruction of Jerusalem. It is here applied to the ultra Jewish Christians, and, perhaps, somewhat disapprovingly. James and the elders fully recognised Paul. But the less informed masses suspected him, and we are now to have a final proposition for conciliating them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they, when they heard it, glorified God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands (literally ‘tens of thousands’) there are among the Jews of those who have believed; and they are all zealous for the law.”
Their response was that they glorified God. They truly rejoiced to hear of what God had been doing. And they approved of it too. Then they pointed out to Paul that there were also grounds for glorifying God in the Jewish church. Here also many thousands, even tens of thousands, had come to believe in Jesus Christ. We need not restrict this numbering to Jerusalem. The reference is to the acknowledged Jewish church as a whole in the whole region, in contrast with Gentiles. The Jewish church too was multiplying. And because they were Jewish Christians they were zealous for the Law. A Jew who became a Christian became a better Jew.
So it is emphasised that among both Jews and Gentiles the word was being powerfully effective.
But the elders then went on to draw attention to a problem, and that was that among the Jewish Christians were those who were only too willing to believe the worst about Paul.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
A case of Jewish prejudice:
v. 20. And 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;
v. 21. and 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.
v. 22. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together; for they will hear that thou art come.
v. 23. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
v. 24. them 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.
v. 25. As 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. The rank and file of the congregation in Jerusalem was still strongly impregnated with Jewish prejudices, and even the elders, including James, had not reached that clearness of distinction between Christian liberty and Jewish customs which was necessary for a full appreciation of the New Testament blessings. The conference of elders responded to Paul’s report with praises to God, expressing their full accord with his manner of working. but incidentally they had a little matter which they believed of sufficient importance to bring to his attention. As they put it, Paul himself must have seen, especially in Jerusalem, that there were thousands of Jews that were believers, that had truly accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah. At the same time, however, they had remained and were ardent upholders of the Law, believing that the keeping of all the precepts and traditions was necessary and even essential. These Jews had heard the report, had received the information concerning Paul, that he taught apostasy from Moses, not in general, but to all the Jews that lived in the Diaspora, among the Gentiles abroad. This general charge was specified in two instances, namely, that Paul had taught them not to practice the rite of circumcision, and that he similarly prevailed upon them not to walk after the customs, the observances which had become obligatory by tradition and usage. As a matter of fact, these charges were not true. Paul had not taught the Jews not to circumcise their children, but had himself circumcised Timothy, a half-Jew, on account of the latter’s probable work among Jews. Paul had not taught them to forsake the customs of their fathers; for he himself, about a year before, had written to the Corinthians that he had been a Jew to the Jews, 1Co 9:20-21. He never lost sight of the distinction between that which we are at liberty to do for the sake of others, and that which we are under Obligation to do in order to obey God. And this distinction had been brought out in his efforts to convince the Jews that the ancient rites were no longer binding on their consciences. The elders of Jerusalem may have been more or less aware of all this, but they were afraid that the Jewish Christians, who had not yet reached the state of knowledge for the proper understanding of the difference between the Old and the New Testament, would continue in their offense. In casting around for something that might be done under the circumstances, they felt that a meeting of the entire congregation would become absolutely necessary, for the news of Paul’s arrival had spread throughout the city by this time. To avoid any unpleasantness, therefore, they made a suggestion to Paul as to what he might do to remove all false impressions and to meet the weak brethren at least halfway. They had in the congregation four men that were under a Nazirite vow, Num 6:2-12, which lay upon them as an unfulfilled obligation. “This necessitated their purification, which required seven days for its completion, the shaving of their heads at the altar, the sacrifice of a sin-offering and a burnt offering for each of them, and the loss of the time passed under the vow. Paul’s part with them was, first, to be at charges for them, meaning that he paid part of or all the expenses of the victims which they had to offer; and secondly, to go into the Temple and notify the priests when their days of purification would be fulfilled, so that a priest might be prepared to sacrifice their offerings. The last they could not do themselves, because the Law shut them out of the Jewish court during their uncleanness; but as Paul was unclean, not from contact with a dead body, but from some of the many other causes mentioned in the Law, he could purify himself in a single day by washing his clothes and bathing his flesh and remaining unclean until evening, Lev 15:1-30. ” This act of Paul would give them all to understand that the matters which had been reported concerning him were without foundation, and that he so comported himself as to keep the Law. And so far as the Gentile Christians were concerned, the elders of Jerusalem reassured Paul, by reminding him of their resolution passed in his presence, that they were not obliged to keep the Jewish ceremonial law, but that they should beware of eating the flesh of idol sacrifices, and blood, and the meat of strangled animals, and that they must avoid fornication, sexual vice. From this description it appears that the members of the congregation in Jerusalem were still ardent upholders of the Mosaic ceremonial law, that they continued to circumcise their children, that they regarded the purifications of the church law, though they in some cases involved the offering of sacrifices, as binding even upon the Christians of Jewish extraction, but that they imposed none of these observances upon the Gentile brethren, believing the resolution of the former conference to cover their case completely. As long as mere weakness or lack of spiritual knowledge may be assumed, such behavior may be tolerated, but as soon as matters that are in themselves indifferent are urged as laws of God, the liberty of the Gospel must be insisted upon.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Act 21:20. How many thousands The original is , myriads, which may only denote in general a great number; and if we consider what a vast confluence there must have been at Jerusalem on occasion of this great festival, we need not be surprised at the expression. See Act 21:27.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 21:20-21 . The body of presbyters certainly headed by its apostolic (Gal 1:19 ) chief James as spokesman recognises with thanksgiving to God the merits of Paul in the conversion of the Gentiles , but then represents to him at once also his critical position toward the Palestinian Jewish-Christians , among whom the opinion had spread that he taught all the Jews living in the among the Gentiles, when preaching his gospel to them, apostasy from the law of Moses. This opinion was, according to the principles expressed by Paul in his Epistles (see especially Rom., Gal., and 1 Cor.), and according to his wisdom in teaching generally, certainly erroneous ; but amidst the tenacious overvaluing of Mosaism on the part of the Judaists, ever fomented by the anti-Pauline party, it arose very naturally from the doctrine firmly and boldly defended by Paul, that the attainment of the Messianic salvation was not conditioned by circumcision and the works of the law, but purely by faith in Christ. What he had taught by way of denying and guarding against the value put on Mosaism (so as to secure the necessity of faith), was by the zealous Judaists taken up and interpreted as a hostile attack, as a direct summons to apostasy from the Mosaic precepts and institutions. See Ewald, p. 563 ff., on these relations, and on the greatness of the apostle, who notwithstanding, and in clear consciousness of the extreme dangers which threatened him, does not sever the bond with the apostolic mother-church, but presents himself to it, and now again presents himself precisely amidst this confluence of the multitude to the feast, like Christ on His last entrance to Jerusalem.
] is not, with Olshausen, to be referred to the number of the presbyters present, who might represent, as it were, the number of believers: for only the presbyters of Jerusalem were assembled with James (Act 21:18 ), but to the Judaean Christians themselves (Christians of the Jewish land), the view of whose many myriads might present itself to Paul at Jerusalem in the great multitude of those who were there, especially at the time of the feast.
] a hyperbolical expression [122] of a very great indefinable number (comp. Luk 12:1 ), the mention of which was to make the apostle the more inclined to the proposal about to be made; hence we are not, with Baur (I. p. 230, Exo 2 ), to understand orthodox Jews as such (believing or unbelieving). The words, according to the correct reading (see the critical remarks), import: how many myriads among the Jews there are of those who are believing, i.e . to how many myriads those who have become believers among the Jews amount.
. ] zealous observers and champions of the Mosaic law. Comp. Gal 1:14 .
] they have been instructed (Luk 1:4 ; Act 18:25 ; Rom 2:18 ; 1Co 14:19 ; Gal 6:6 ; Lucian, Asin . 48) by Judaistic anti-Pauline teachers . Actual instruction (comp. Chrysostom), not generally audierunt (Vulg.), nor bare suspicion (Zeller), is expressed.
. . .]
[ 123] according to the notion of commanding , which is implied in ; see on Act 15:24 .
] observing the Mosaic customs. Comp. , Act 21:23 . The dative is as in Act 9:31 .
The antagonism of Judaism to Paul is in this passage so strongly and clearly displayed, that the author, if his book were actually the treatise with a set purpose , which it has been represented as being, would, in quite an incomprehensible manner, have fallen out of his part . In the case of such a cunning inventor of history as the author, according to Baur and Zeller, appears to be, the power of historical truth was not so great as to extort “against his will” (Baur) such a testimony at variance with his design.
[122] But yet, comp. with Act 1:15 , Act 2:41 , Act 4:4 , Gal 1:22 , an evidence of the great progress which Christianity had thus made in Palestine with the lapse of time.
[123] The Jewish-Christians zealous for the law must thus have continued to circumcise the children that came to be born to them.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1805
PAUL BECOMING A NAZARITE
Act 21:20-23. And 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: and 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. What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee.
FEW subjects require so much caution in the preacher, or candour in the hearers, as that which we are now called to contemplate. To lay down general rules is easy: but to apply them to all states and circumstances is a matter of extreme difficulty: just as the drawing a rough outline of the human body may be done by a novice in the art of painting; but to fill up all the parts in the perfect order of nature, requires the hand of a master. Yet it is not uncommon for persons to sit in judgment on their fellow-creatures with as much confidence as if it was impossible for them to err. The conduct of the Apostle Paul in the passage before us has been much condemned; and a minister almost endangers his own character by undertaking to defend it. But I am persuaded it is defensible, and that he acted as became him in existing circumstances: and I cannot but think, that when the whole Church at Jerusalem united in recommending that conduct, and St. Paul adopted it on their recommendation, it is somewhat presumptuous in us, who are so incompetent to form a judgment in comparison of them, to stigmatize what by them was universally approved. Indeed, to suppose that he who but a few days before had withstood so manfully the solicitations of his friends to keep away from Jerusalem, and had declared himself ready to be bound or to die there, for the Lords sake, should be left of God to betray the cause which he had undertaken to support, is to dishonour, not the Apostle only, but that God whom he served.
That we may communicate our sentiments clearly, we shall endeavour,
I.
To explain the Apostles conduct
There was a violent prejudice at Jerusalem against the Apostle Paul
[St. Paul, having been sent chiefly to the Gentiles, had neglected the Jewish Ritual; whilst the Church at Jerusalem, consisting entirely of Jews, had still been observant of its forms. Nor is this difference to be wondered at; for even the Apostles themselves, for six years after the day of Pentecost, knew not that the Gentiles were to be incorporated with the Jews, and that the partition-wall between them was to be broken down. Hence they, and all their converts, adhered to the ceremonial law, and to many of the customs, which they had received by tradition from their fathers: nor do they appear to have wholly laid them aside, till the destruction of Jerusalem and of the whole Jewish polity rendered the continuance of them impracticable. Considering therefore the veneration in which the Mosaic institutions were held, it is not to be wondered at that the Jewish Christians should regard Paul as an apostate from Moses [Note: .].
It was to counteract this idea, that an expedient was devised by James and the Jewish elders. They knew that whilst this prejudice remained, the Christians at Jerusalem were not likely to reap any benefit from the ministry of Paul; or rather, that great dissensions and divisions were likely to be occasioned by him: and therefore they wished to reconcile the minds of the people by some public act on the part of Paul. It happened that at that time there were four Jewish Christians who were performing vows of Nazariteship in the temple; and it was proposed to Paul to join with them, and to submit to all the rites prescribed to Nazarites by the law: and thus to shew publicly, that, though he had neglected all Jewish ceremonies among the Gentiles, and had maintained that they were no longer binding on the Jews themselves, he did not think that the observance of them was criminal. James was particular in making known to Paul the precise ground on which he wished him to accede to the proposal. He reminded Paul, that he did not mean to interfere with the decree which had been made in reference to the Gentiles many years before, when Paul himself had come up to Jerusalem to inquire respecting the continuance of circumcision; but that he only wished to convince the Christians at Jerusalem that Paul was no enemy to Moses.
On these grounds Paul, who not very long before had himself made a vow of Nazariteship at Cenchrea [Note: Act 18:18.], adopted the plan proposed, and immediately proceeded to carry it into execution.
The particular duties of Nazarites, and the sacrifices they offered at the time of their purification, are stated in the 6th chapter of the book of Numbers. The person who took upon him those vows, was only bound so far as he had voluntarily bound himself: and hence Paul was at liberty to join the other Nazarites, and to complete with them what they alone had begun.]
Such was the precise state of the case, and such the conduct of the Apostle Paul, which now we proceed,
II.
To vindicate
Various are the charges which have been inconsiderately brought against Paul for his conduct on this occasion; but if we view it candidly, we shall find that he was not really obnoxious to any one of them. He has been accused of,
1.
Insincerity
[Great stress is laid on those words of James, Do this, that 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: ver. 24.]. But can we suppose that James exhorted him to declare a downright falsehood, which thousands of Jews there present were able to contradict? Would not such a proposal have excited in Paul the greatest abhorrence? We must understand the proposal as it was understood at the time. The Jewish Christians had been informed, that Paul set himself against Moses, and would in no case submit, or suffer any other Jew to submit, to any of his appointments. Now, says James, shew them that this is not true, by submitting to this particular appointment proposed to you. To this proposal Paul acceded. Was there any insincerity in that? No: it precisely accorded with his own views, and was the deliberate expression of his own mind ]
2.
Inconsistency
[When Peter had, through fear of some Jewish Christians, been guilty of dissimulation, and had made such a compliance as that recorded in our text, Paul had publicly reproved him before the whole Church [Note: Gal 2:11-14.]: and now that Paul himself was brought into similar circumstances, (it may be said) he acted in the very way that he had before condemned. But this is not a just statement of the case. Peter had acted in a very different manner, and from very different principles. He had not only gone back to Jewish ceremonies himself, but had compelled the Gentiles also to conform to them: and this be had done solely through the fear of man. But St. Paul compelled no one to follow his example: he abridged no mans liberty: he merely conformed to a rite himself, from love to his fellow-creatures, and from a hope of furthering their eternal welfare. The two cases were as different as can well be conceived. St. Paul did nothing but what he had frequently done on other occasions. He had himself circumcised Timothy, that Timothy might find the readier acceptance among the Jews: and St. Paul tells us, that he had always acted on the same Principle, whenever a just occasion had arisen; To the Jews, became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that T might gain them that are under the law [Note: 1Co 9:20.]. Thus, instead of being guilty of any inconsistency, he acted on the very principles which he had invariably pursued.]
3.
Unfaithfulness both to God and man
[St. Paul had received a commission to go to the Gentiles; and to shew both to them, and to the Jews, that the law was abolished, and that both Jews and Gentiles were henceforth to form one body in Christ: and, it may be said, that in this act of his, he was building again the things he had destroyed. But again, I say, we must distinguish between an occasional conformity to a rite for the sake of removing prejudices, and an insisting on that rite as necessary. If he had told the Jews that the ceremonial law was necessary to be observed in order to their salvation, he would indeed have betrayed the cause of Christ. If he had even inculcated the observance of it as having an efficacy towards their acceptance with God, he would then also have betrayed the cause of Christ: because it is certain, that such an idea would have put the ceremonial law in the place of Christ, and would have made the cross of Christ of no effect [Note: Gal 5:2-4.]. But he merely shewed, that if, on the one hand, men were not to be saved by their observance of the law, they would not be condemned for it, provided they did not rely upon it for their justification before God. The time for the total abolition of the ceremonial law was not yet fully come: it was gradually passing away; and, when Jerusalem should be destroyed, as it would soon be by the Romans, the whole Jewish law and polity would be swept away together. Till that period should arrive, the observance of the law was purely optional; and whether men observed it or not, they should equally be accepted, provided they acted really with a view to please and honour God [Note: Rom 14:2-3; Rom 14:6.]. This was the whole that St. Pauls conduct was intended to prove; and his proving it in the way he did, was highly acceptable to God, and profitable to the Church.]
Having shewn the propriety of his conduct, we now proceed,
III.
To improve it
Many valuable lessons we may learn from it; a few of which we will now suggest to you.
1.
Endeavour truly and simply to approve yourselves to God
[God forbid that any thing which has been spoken should be considered as justifying dissimulation, or as countenancing a worldly temporizing spirit: no: we must act uprightly, as in the presence of the heart-searching God. We must so act, as to have the testimony of our conscience, that with simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have our conversation in the world. The Christian should, so to speak, be a transparent character; and should prevent, as far as possible, his good from being evil spoken of. In acting according to circumstances, we must take care not to be influenced by unhallowed principles, or to carry our concessions to too great an extent. It will sometimes happen, that the path of duty is extremely difficult to find, and that even good men may differ in their judgment respecting it: but in such cases it will be well, after consulting the most aged and experienced of the Lords people, to commit the matter to the Lord, and to do that which we judge will be most acceptable in his sight: and, if we have the testimony of our consciences, that we are willing to be hound or die for him, we need not fear but that God will guide us aright, or, at least, so guide us, that we shall not greatly err.]
2.
As far as you can consistently with a good conscience, consult in your conduct the welfare of those around you
[That inconsiderate conduct which has no regard to the feelings of others, is common indeed, but highly culpable. We may, by imprudence, cast a stumbling-block before others, when, by a more wise and temperate conduct, we might remove it out of their way. In all such cases, however we may think to please God by our zeal, we grievously offend him by our want of love. Happy would it be if this matter were better understood by young people of every description. Many thousands of persons might be won by a conciliatory conduct, who are repelled and disgusted by the injudicious sallies of intemperate zeal. Children, servants, yea, all of you who are under authority, remember, that if you have souls, so have your parents, and masters, and governors, souls also: and though you are not to concede one Christian principle for any man, or to act in any thing contrary to a known duty, yet you ought, to a certain degree, to become all things to all men, and to seek, not your own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.]
3.
Guard against rash and uncharitable judging
[If the conduct of Paul, when acting by the advice of James and of all the elders at Jerusalem, has been misunderstood, the conduct of holy men at this time may be misunderstood also; and we may be condemning them for things which God most highly approves. It is impossible for us to judge aright, unless we put ourselves into the precise situation of those whose conduct we are contemplating: nay, more, we should also know the exact motives by which they were actuated. But these things are known perfectly to God alone; to whom alone the office of judging belongs. Who art thou that judgest another? To his own Master he standeth or falleth. If you do not see the exact propriety of a brothers conduct, apply to him for an explanation of it, if you will; but judge him not. Are you weak? judge not the strong: are you strong? despise not the weak: but all of you determine this rather, to take up every stumbling-block out of your brothers way, and seek those things whereby one may edify another [Note: Rom 14:13; Rom 14:19.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
20 And 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:
Ver. 20. Many thousands ] Therefore not to be slighted.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20. ] While they praised God for, and fully recognized, the work wrought by him among the Gentiles , they found it requisite to advise him respecting the suspicion under which he laboured among the believing Jews. They, led, naturally perhaps, but incorrectly (see 1Co 7:18 ), by some passages of Paul’s life (and of his already written Epistles?), in which he had depreciated legal observances in comparison with faith in Christ, and spoken strongly against their adoption by Gentile converts, apprehended that he advised on the part of the Hellenistic believers, an entire apostasy from Moses and the ordinances of the law.
] This can hardly be a reference (as Olsh.) to the elders present, as representatives of the of believing Jews; for only those of Jerusalem were there: but refers to Paul’s own experience, and knowledge of the vast numbers of the Jews who believed at Jerusalem, and elsewhere in Juda.
is perhaps not to be strictly taken: see reff. Baur suspects, on account of this expression, that the words . are spurious; but quite without reason. Eusebius quotes from Hegesippus (H. E. ii. 23), . On the other hand, Origen (tom. i. in Joann. 2, vol. iv. p. 3) says, that probably the whole number of believing Jews at no time had amounted to 144,000. On , see note, ch. Act 16:20-21 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 21:20 . .: “recte imperf. quia finis verbo indicatur,” Blass. : the word seems to imply that Paul had already become cognisant of the fact by his own observations in his ministerial work. : St. Paul is recognised as an not only by St. James but by the assembled elders (see also Weiss, in loco ). ., see critical note. , cf. Luk 12:1 , of a large but indefinite number ( cf. 1Co 4:15 ), referring to the number of believers not only in Jerusalem but in Juda present in large numbers for the Feast. The word cannot refer to Jewish Christians in a wider sense, as Overbeck took it, because they would not need to be informed of Paul’s teaching relative to the Mosaic law. ., cf. Gal 1:14 , Tit 2:14 , 1Pe 3:13 (Mal 4:2Mal 4:2 , we have the same phrase, cf. 4Ma 18:12 ). The extreme party of the Pharisees prided themselves on the title “zealots of the law, zealots of God”; it was a title which St. Paul himself had claimed, Lightfoot, Gal 1:14 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
glorified = were glorifying. Not a single act, but a continual praising.
the Lord. The texts read “God”.
unto = to.
seest. Greek. theoreo. App-133.
brother. Compare Act 9:17 and 2Pe 3:15.
thousands. Greek. murias = myriads. Fig. Hyperbole. App-6. Compare Joh 3:26; Joh 12:19.
believe = have believed. App-150.
are. Emph. Greek. huparcho. See note on Luk 9:48.
zealous. Greek. zelotes. Properly a noun, meaning zealot, i.e. enthusiast. Occurs here, Act 22:3. 1Co 14:12. Gal 1:1, Gal 1:14. Tit 2:14. Also as a title. See App-141.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20.] While they praised God for, and fully recognized, the work wrought by him among the Gentiles, they found it requisite to advise him respecting the suspicion under which he laboured among the believing Jews. They,-led, naturally perhaps, but incorrectly (see 1Co 7:18), by some passages of Pauls life (and of his already written Epistles?), in which he had depreciated legal observances in comparison with faith in Christ, and spoken strongly against their adoption by Gentile converts,-apprehended that he advised on the part of the Hellenistic believers, an entire apostasy from Moses and the ordinances of the law.
] This can hardly be a reference (as Olsh.) to the elders present, as representatives of the of believing Jews; for only those of Jerusalem were there:-but refers to Pauls own experience, and knowledge of the vast numbers of the Jews who believed at Jerusalem, and elsewhere in Juda.
is perhaps not to be strictly taken: see reff. Baur suspects, on account of this expression, that the words . are spurious; but quite without reason. Eusebius quotes from Hegesippus (H. E. ii. 23), . On the other hand, Origen (tom. i. in Joann. 2, vol. iv. p. 3) says, that probably the whole number of believing Jews at no time had amounted to 144,000. On , see note, ch. Act 16:20-21.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 21:20. ) how many myriads) Comp. Jer 3:14, etc. Among all those by degrees circumcision expired; and of these, without doubt, a great part was mixed up with the Gentiles who believed. Wherefore the seed of Abraham has not perished in so great numbers as you would suppose, during the lapse of so many ages[viz. the centuries of the Jews unbelief since their rejection of Jesus when He was on earth].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
they glorified: Act 4:21, Act 11:18, Psa 22:23, Psa 22:27, Psa 72:17-19, Psa 98:1-3, Isa 55:10-13, Isa 66:9-14, Luk 15:3-10, Luk 15:32, Rom 15:6, Rom 15:7, Rom 15:9-13, Gal 1:24, 2Th 1:10, Rev 19:6, Rev 19:7
how: Act 2:41, Act 4:4, Act 6:7, Mat 13:31-33, Joh 12:24
thousands: Luk 12:1,*Gr.
and they: Act 15:1, Act 15:5, Act 15:24, Act 22:3, Rom 10:2, Gal 1:14
Reciprocal: Gen 33:9 – my brother Exo 18:1 – God Psa 85:12 – our land Psa 110:3 – from the womb Isa 66:8 – shall a nation Eze 47:9 – a very great Mat 13:32 – the least Mar 4:31 – is less than Luk 13:19 – and it Act 1:15 – an Act 6:11 – against Moses Act 9:17 – Brother Act 11:2 – they Act 14:27 – and had Act 15:3 – declaring 1Co 1:4 – thank 1Co 9:20 – unto 2Co 9:13 – they Phi 3:6 – zeal
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0
Act 21:20. While many of the brethren 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 thy,, Gentiles did not also.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 21:20. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him. Thus the Jerusalem elders and James, when they heard the story of the successful missionary apostle, reverently gave thanks to Almighty God for the great work done by the hand of His servant Paul. In their minds after his narrative no shadow of mistrust or suspicion of the earnest and devoted man lingered. Then after the prayer of glad thanksgiving, they gave him counsel how best to win the hearts of their suspicious, jealous countrymen.
Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law. The Greek word rendered thousands is even stronger,myriads, tens of thousands. We must bear in mind that James was speaking not of the Christian Jews of Jerusalem only, but of that vast multitude which was in the habit of coming up yearly to keep the feast of Pentecost in the Holy City, and who at that moment were present in Jerusalem. Of all the great Jewish festivals, Pentecost attracted the largest number of pilgrims from distant countries. This in great measure was owing to the danger of travel in early spring or late autumn, which was an effectual bar to pilgrims from a distance coming up in great numbers to the Passover or feast of Tabernacles. We read in Act 4:4, how the number of believers in the city was about five thousand. This was some twenty-four years back, and during this long period Christianity had continued to spread with a strange and, in some places, with a startling rapidity. We must remember the myriads here spoken of include the Jewish Christians of all lands.
But, James continues, these Jews who have accepted Jesus as Messiah are all zealous, more accurately rendered, are all zealots of the law. The Jews of the first century in great numbers were willing to acknowledge as Messiah, that Crucified One whom so many had seen after He was risen from the dead; but they were reluctant to give up their privileges as a chosen race, and so they clung to their law and its stern restrictions with an attachment more devoted than ever. The hatred of the Jews for Paul sprang from their consciousness that he looked upon this sacred law as having done its work, and consequently doomed to vanish away.
A large body of these Jewish Christians subsequently withdrew from the Church; these are known in ecclesiastical history as Nazarenes and Ebionites. The latter sect was very widely spread, and counted in its ranks great numbers of the chosen people. They rejected the authority and writings of St. Paul, branding him as an apostate. They held, also, erroneous views respecting the person of Christ. This Judaising sect was very numerous even as late as the close of the fourth century.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Act 21:20-21. When they heard it, they glorified the Lord The Lord Christ, for this wonderful demonstration of his presence and grace, with his servant; and said, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe Many of these, doubtless, had come from different parts of the country, and some, probably, from remote provinces to Jerusalem, on occasion of this feast. Well might our Lord compare his religion to a grain of mustard-seed, seeing it had spread so extensively in so short a time. Its beginning was small, the instruments employed in propagating it apparently mean, the prejudices and obstinacy of the Jews very great, and yet, in about twenty-eight or thirty years after the ascension, the number of those who had embraced it, and were at one time in the same city, is stated at many thousands, or rather myriads, (,) or ten thousands. And they are all zealous for the law For the whole Mosaic dispensation, as supposing it to be of perpetual obligation on all the Jewish nation, without excepting those that had embraced Christianity. And they are informed of thee Through the prejudice and falsehood of thine enemies; that thou teachest all the Jews to forsake Moses, &c. This, it appears, was a false charge brought against Paul. We have no proof that he taught the Jews to forbear circumcising their children, or to forsake the law of Moses. On the contrary, it seems, knowing that law to be the civil or political law of Judea, he always enjoined them to comply with its institutions, as the means of preserving their political rites and privileges, till Jerusalem should be destroyed, (which he foresaw it would be,) and their commonwealth dissolved; even as he enjoined the converted Gentiles to obey the good laws of the countries where they resided. What he really taught concerning the law of Moses was, that neither Jew nor Gentile could be saved by its institutions, which was the doctrine likewise of James, and of the elders, and of all the more intelligent members of the church at Jerusalem; as is implied in what James says, Act 21:25; as touching the Gentiles which believe, we have concluded that they observe no such thing. For if the Gentiles did not need to observe the law of Moses, obedience thereto could not be necessary to the salvation of any person whatever.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
See notes on verse 18
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
NON-ESSENTIALITY OF ECCLESIASTICAL ORDINANCES
20. And hearing, they continued to glorify God and said to him, You see, brother, how many myriads there are among the Jews of those having believed, and all these are zealots of the law. From this verse we are assured that the Christian Jews punctiliously kept the law of Moses, circumcising their children, offering animal sacrifices and performing many other ordinances peculiar to the Levitical ritual. It took the Roman armies, A. D. 73, who captured the city and destroyed the temple, a million of people, selling a million more into slavery and thus bringing an end to the Jewish dispensation, to stop the Christian Jews from their pertinacious observance of the Mosaic institution, thus precipitating them, pursuant to the warning of Jesus, to fly away from Jerusalem in order to save their lives. Then they gave up the Mosaic ritual, which they had carried fifteen hundred years, while the apostles and elders decreed perfect relief to all the Gentiles from all the rites and ceremonies of the Mosiac law, requiring of them nothing but entire sanctification, experimental and practical; they at the same time allowed the Jews perfect liberty to keep the law of Moses. Now remember that these Jews and Gentiles were precisely equal and perfectly free in the very same organizations of the gospel church, the one to observe the vast and operose ritual of Moses, a hundred times more burdensome than Baptist immersion and foot-washing, at the same time extending to the Gentiles perfect spiritual freedom to omit all ecclesiastical ceremonies and go ahead with a purely spiritual worship. Why was this? The unity of Gods people focalizes in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which brings all into one body (1Co 12:13). When you have this, you are saved to the uttermost. Hence it makes no difference whether you practice any, few or many church rites. It is perfectly consistent for the sanctified Quaker, utterly unencumbered by carnal ordinances, and the trine- immersion, foot-washing, kissing, sanctified Dunker to worship together in very same church in perfect harmony and Christian fellowship. The division of Gods people over non-essentials is a trick of the devil to get their eye off the Savior so he can side-track them into hell. If Jesus does not baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire, your religion will all prove a failure and break down this side of heaven. When you have the Saviors baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire, then you enjoy perfect freedom of conscience relative to church rites and ceremonies, as here you see the very same apostles who laid no obstruction on the observance of the vast and burdensome rites and ceremonies of Judaism on the part of the Christian Jews, magnanimously relieved the Gentiles of the entire curriculum, only requiring of them the spirituality and the essence, which is likewise indispensable to Jew and Gentile.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
21:20 {4} And 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:
(4) In things indifferent (of which sort the traditions of the Pharisees were not, but rather the ceremonies of the Law, until the time when Christian liberty was more fully revealed to the Jews) charity exhorts us to conform or apply ourselves willingly so far as we may, to our brethren who do not stubbornly and maliciously resist the truth (but are not thoroughly instructed), especially if the question pertains to a whole multitude.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Having rejoiced over Paul’s account of the Gentiles’ conversion, the elders also added that thousands of Jews had become believers, many of them in Jerusalem. Estimates of the population of Jersalem at this time range between 30,000 and 50,000. [Note: Bock, Acts, p. 646.] The elders explained that these Jewish Christians had some misgivings about Paul’s ministry about which they had heard. The word on the streets was that Paul was going beyond his actual practice of not requiring Gentile converts to undergo circumcision or to obey the Mosaic Law. They had heard he was telling Jewish converts not to practice circumcision or to observe the customs of Judaism. This was a false report. Paul did not teach that these customs were evil, just unnecessary for justification and sanctification.
"The Jerusalem elders were in somewhat of a bind. On the one hand, they had supported Paul’s witness to the Gentiles at the Jerusalem Conference. Now they found Paul a persona non grata and his mission discredited not only among the Jewish populace, which they were seeking to reach, but also among their more recent converts. They did not want to reject Paul. Indeed, they praised God for his successes. Still they had their own mission to the Jews to consider, and for that Paul was a distinct liability." [Note: Polhill, p. 447.]
From here to the end of Acts Paul argued before various audiences that he was a loyal Jew and that his mission to the Gentiles was not anti-Jewish. He insisted that he did not oppose the Jews or their keeping of the Mosaic Law.