Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 21:15
And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.
15, 16. The Journey to Jerusalem
15. And after those days we took up our carriages ] Rev. Ver. “ our baggage.” In the English of the A.V. “carriages” were things which were carried. The word is found in this sense, 1Sa 17:22; Isa 10:28, as well as in this passage. So in Shakespeare, and cp. Earle’s Microcosmographie (Arber), p. 41, “His thoughts are not loaden with any carriage besides.” But the use is quite lost now. The verb indicates rather “packing up” for the purpose of removal, than “taking up” in the act of moving.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
After those days – After what had occurred, as related in the previous verses.
We took up our carriages – This is a most unhappy translation. The word carriage we apply now exclusively to a vehicle for conveying anything as a coach, chariot, gig, cannon carriage, etc. The original word means simply that they prepared themselves; made themselves ready; put their baggage in order, etc. aposkeuasamenoi. They prepared for the journey. The English word carriage was formerly used in the sense of what is carried, baggage, burden, vessels, furniture, etc. Thus, it was used in the time that our translation was made; and in this sense it is to be understood in 1Sa 17:22, And David left his carriage (baggage) in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, etc. See Act 21:20, margin; Isa 10:28, At Michmash he hath laid up his carriages (his baggage, etc.).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 21:15
And after those days we took up our carriages and went to Jerusalem.
Carriages to Jerusalem
(Childrens Sermon):–This would read like a scene at a railway station only for the fact that carriages are not taken up, but take up. But in the Bible, the word carriage means the act of carrying, and carriages what is carried (Jdg 18:21; 1Sa 17:22; Isa 10:28); just as luggage means what has to be lugged about.
I. We have all got bundles to carry. You know how it is in travelling. A good many things can be packed away in trunks, but some must be carried in the hand. How many things we have to carry in life–as children our toys, when bigger our school books, when men things for family comforts, etc., and he is a poor creature who is ashamed to be seen carrying a bundle home to his Jerusalem. Then think how much ships have to carry, and armies. The word impediment comes from impedimenta, the baggage belonging to a Roman army. And what a lot of things have to be carried when we move from one house to another. But besides all these we have duties and responsibilities–big and little–which must be carried; and it seems as though some people had more than their share, while others dodge their duties, as leaders in a stage coach seem to do, leaving all the hard work to the wheelers. But never shirk a duty when once it has been made plain.
II. Every man must carry his own bundle. St. Paul says, Bear ye one anothers burdens, for every man shall bear his own burden–i.e., we ought to help others because when we have done our utmost in this way we shall have enough to do to answer for ourselves. When we are out on a large party each has his own umbrella, handbag, etc.; but there are packages containing things belonging to all. Now it would not be right to simply carry our own things and refuse a helping hand to the rest. Yet sometimes you see selfish people leaving everything, even their own bundles, to others; now Paul was not like this. He was too self-reliant, too generous, too courteous. When seemingly utterly overburdened with his own duties and troubles, he said, Look not every man on his own things, but also on the things of others, and himself set the example.
III. We must carry our bundles in spite of temptations to lay them down. It is very easy to discourage and to be discouraged. When you have been on an errand and were carrying things home, have you never met with companions who said, Wait a bit and have a game? Or when you have had a hard lesson have you not heard a voice saying, You will never learn it in time; why then trouble? Bunyan tells us how much Christian was discouraged by the report of Timorous and Mistrust about lions in the path. So it was with Paul. On this journey to Jerusalem he was constantly meeting with people who said, Dont go. And how many people there are who would have replied, Perhaps you are right, and have laid down their bundles. Never do that, but persist in carrying your bundle to your journeys end, in doing your duty until it is completely done. (Wilberforce Newton.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Took up our carriages] ; We made ourselves ready; packed up our things; got our baggage in order. This is what the text means.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As they do pack up that are to remove to another house or place, not intending to come thither any more again; this also did show their readiness of mind to endure and suffer all things, as loss of relations and friends, and all accommodations, for Christ.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15, 16. we took up ourcarriages“our baggage.”
and went up to Jerusalemforthe fifth time after his conversion, thus concluding histhird missionary tour, which proved his last, so far asrecorded; for though he accomplished the fourth and last part of themissionary plan sketched out (Ac19:21) “After I have been at Jerusalem, I must also seeRome”it was as “a prisoner of Jesus Christ.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And after those days we took up our carriages,…. Or prepared themselves, both for their journey, and for whatever trials and exercises they were to meet with; they took up their bundles, which hitherto were brought by sea, and now put them upon beasts, going by land from Caesarea:
and went up to Jerusalem; which stood on higher ground, and was, as Josephus n says, six hundred furlongs, or seventy five miles distant.
n De Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 3. sect. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Paul’s Visit to Jerusalem; Paul’s Conformity to the Jewish Law. |
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15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. 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. 17 And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. 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: 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. 22 What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. 23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; 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. 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. 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
In these verses we have,
I. Paul’s journey to Jerusalem from Csarea, and the company that went along with him. 1. They took up their carriages, their bag and baggage, and as it should seem, like poor travellers or soldiers, were their own porters; so little had they of change of raiment. Omnia mea mecum porto–My property is all about me. Some think they had with them the money that was collected in the churches of Macedonia and Achaia for the poor saints at Jerusalem. If they could have persuaded Paul to go some other way, they would gladly have gone along with him; but if, notwithstanding their dissuasive, he will go to Jerusalem, they do no say, “Let him go by himself then;” but as Thomas, in a like case, when Christ would go into danger at Jerusalem, Let us go and die with him, John xi. 16. Their resolution to cleave to Paul was like that of Ittai to cleave to David (2 Sam. xv. 21): In what place my Lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, there also will thy servant be. Thus Paul’s boldness emboldened them. 2. Certain of the disciples of Csarea went along with them. Whether they designed to go however, and took this opportunity of going with so much good company, or whether they went on purpose to see if they could do Paul any service and if possible prevent his trouble, or at least minister to him in it, does not appear. The less while that Paul is likely to enjoy his liberty the more industrious they are to improve every opportunity of conversation with him. Elisha kept close to Elijah when he knew the time was at hand that he should be taken up. 3. They brought with them an honest old gentleman that had a house of his own at Jerusalem, in which he would gladly entertain Paul and his company, one Mnason of Cyprus (v. 16), with whom we should lodge. Such a great concourse of people there was to the feast that it was a hard matter to get lodgings; the public houses would be taken up by those of the better sort, and it was looked upon as a scandalous thing for those that had private houses to let their rooms out at those times, but they must freely accommodate strangers with them. Every one then would choose his friends to be his guests, and Mnason took Paul and his company to be his lodgers; though he had heard what trouble Paul was likely to come into, which might bring those that entertained him into trouble too, yet he shall be welcome to him, whatever comes of it. This Mnason is called an old disciple–a disciple from the beginning; some think, one of the seventy disciples of Christ, or one of the first converts after the pouring out of the Spirit, or one of the first that was converted by the preaching of the gospel in Cyprus, ch. xiii. 4. However it was, it seems he had been long a Christian, and was now in years. Note, It is an honourable thing to be an old disciple of Jesus Christ, to have been enabled by the grace of God to continue long in a course of duty, stedfast in the faith, and growing more and more prudent and experienced to a good old age. And with these old disciples one would choose to lodge; for the multitude of their years will teach wisdom.
II. Paul’s welcome at Jerusalem. 1. Many of the brethren there received him gladly, v. 17. As soon as they had notice that he was come to town, they went to his lodgings at Mnason’s house, and congratulated him on his safe arrival, and told him they were glad to see him, and invited him to their houses, accounting it an honour to be known to one that was such an eminent servant of Christ. Streso observes that the word here used concerning the welcome they gave to the apostles, asmenos apodechein, is used concerning the welcome of the apostles’ doctrine, ch. ii. 41. They gladly received his word. We think if we had Paul among us we should gladly receive him; but it is a question whether we should or no it, having his doctrine, we do not gladly receive that. 2. They paid a visit to James and the elders of the church, at a church-meeting (v. 18): “The day following, Paul went unto James, and took us with him, that were his companions, to introduce us into acquaintance with the church at Jerusalem.” It should seem that James was now the only apostle that was resident at Jerusalem; the rest had dispersed themselves to preach the gospel in other places. But still they forecasted to have an apostle at Jerusalem, perhaps sometimes one and sometimes another, because there was a great resort thither from all parts. James was now upon the spot, and all the elders or presbyters that were the ordinary pastors of the church, both to preach and govern, were present. Paul saluted them all, paid his respects to them, enquired concerning their welfare, and gave them the right hand of fellowship. He saluted them, that is, he wished them all health and happiness, and prayed to God to bless them. The proper signification of salutation is, wishing salvation to you: salve, or salus tibi sit; like peace be unto you. And such mutual salutations, or good wishes, very well become Christians, in token of their love to each other and joint regard to God.
III. The account they had from him of his ministry among the Gentiles, and their satisfaction in it. 1. He gave them a narrative of the success of the gospel in those countries where he had been employed, knowing it would be very acceptable to them to hear of the enlarging of Christ’s kingdom: He declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry, v. 19. Observe how modestly he speaks, not what things he had wrought (he was but the instrument), but what God had wrought by his ministry. It was not I, but the grace of God which was with me. He planted and watered, but God gave the increase. He declared it particularly, that the grace of God might appear the more illustrious in the circumstances of his success. Thus David will tell others what God has done for his soul (Ps. lxvi. 16), as Paul here what God has done by his hand, and both that their friends may help them to be thankful. 2. Hence they took occasion to give praise to God (v. 20): When they heart it, they glorified the Lord. Paul ascribed it all to God, and to God they gave the praise of it. They did not break out into high encomiums of Paul, but left it to his Master to say to him, Well done, good and faithful servant; but they gave glory to the grace of God, which was extended to the Gentiles. Note, The conversion of sinners ought to be the matter of our joy and praise as it is of the angels’. God had honoured Paul more than any of them, in making his usefulness more extensive, yet they did not envy him, nor were they jealous of his growing reputation, but, on the contrary, glorified the Lord. And they could not do more to encourage Paul to go on cheerfully in his work than to glorify God for his success in it; for, if God be praised, Paul is pleased.
IV. The request of James and the elders of the church at Jerusalem to Paul, or their advice rather, that he would gratify the believing Jews by showing some compliance with the ceremonial law, and appearing publicly in the temple to offer sacrifice, which was not a thing in itself sinful; for the ceremonial law, though it was by no means to be imposed upon the Gentile converts (as the false teachers would have it, and thereby endeavoured to subvert the gospel), yet it was not become unlawful as yet to those that had been bred up in the observance of it, but were far from expecting justification by it. It was dead, but not buried; dead, but not yet deadly. And, being not sinful, they thought it was a piece of prudence in Paul to conform thus far. Observe the counsel they give to Paul herein, not as having authority over him, but an affection for him.
1. They desired him to take notice of the great numbers there were of the Jewish converts: Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of the Jews there are who believe. They called him brother, for they looked upon him as a joint-commissioner with them in gospel-work. Though they were of the circumcision and he the apostle of the Gentiles, though they were conformists and he a nonconformist, yet they were brethren, and owned the relation. Thou hast been in some of our assemblies, and seest how numerous they are: how many myriads of Jews believe. The word signifies, not thousands, but ten thousands. Even among the Jews, who were most prejudiced against the gospel, yet there were great multitudes that received it; for the grace of God can break down the strongest holds of Satan. The number of the names at first was but one hundred and twenty, yet now many thousands. Let none therefore despise the day of small things; for, though the beginning be small, God can make the latter end greatly to increase. Hereby it appeared that God had not quite cast away his people the Jews, for among them there was a remnant, an election, that obtained (see Rom 11:1; Rom 11:5; Rom 11:7): many thousands that believed. And this account which they could give to Paul of the success of the gospel among the Jews was, no doubt, as grateful to Paul as the account which he gave them of the conversion of the Gentiles was to them; for his heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Jews was that they might be saved.
2. They informed him of a prevailing infirmity these believing Jews laboured under, of which they could not yet be cured: They are all zealous of the law. They believe in Christ as the true Messiah, they rest upon his righteousness and submit to his government; but they know the law of Moses was of God, they have found spiritual benefit in their attendance on the institutions of it, and therefore they can by no means think of parting with it, no, nor of growing cold to it. And perhaps they urged Christ’s being made under the law, and observing it (which was designed to be our deliverance from the law), as a reason for their continuance under it. This was a great weakness and mistake, to be so fond of the shadows when the substance was come, to keep their necks under a yoke of bondage when Christ had come to make them free. But see, (1.) The power of education and long usage, and especially of a ceremonial law. (2.) The charitable allowance that must be made in consideration of these. These Jews that believed were not therefore disowned and rejected as no Christians because they were for the law, nay, were zealous for it, while it was only in their own practice, and they did not impose it upon others. Their being zealous of the law was capable of a good construction, which charity would put upon it; and it was capable of a good excuse, considering what they were brought up in, and among whom they lived.
3. They gave him to understand that these Jews, who were so zealous of the law, were ill-affected to him, v. 21. Paul himself, though as faithful a servant as any Christ ever had, yet could not get the good word of all that belonged to Christ’s family: “They are informed of thee (and form their opinion of thee accordingly) that thou not only dost not teach the Gentiles to observe the law, as some would have had thee (we have prevailed with them to drop that), but dost teach all the Jews who are dispersed among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, not to circumcise their children nor to walk after the customs of our nation, which were of divine appointment, so far as they might be observed even among the Gentiles, at a distance from the temple,–not to observe the fasts and feasts of the church, not to wear their phylacteries, nor abstain from unclean meats.” Now, (1.) It was true that Paul preached the abrogation of the law of Moses, taught them that it was impossible to be justified by it, and therefore we are not bound up any longer to the observance of it. But, (2.) It was false that he taught them to forsake Moses; for the religion he preached tended not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. He preached Christ (the end of the law for righteousness), and repentance and faith, in the exercise of which we are to make great use of the law. The Jews among the Gentiles whom Paul taught were so far from forsaking Moses that they never understood him better, nor ever embraced him so heartily as now when they were taught to make use of him as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. But even the believing Jews, having got this notion of Paul, that he was an enemy to Moses, and perhaps giving too much regard to the unbelieving Jews too, were much exasperated against him. Their ministers, the elders here present, loved and honoured him, and approved of what he did, and called him brother, but the people could hardly be induced to entertain a favourable thought of him; for it is certain the least judicious are the most censorious, the weak-headed are the hot-headed. They could not distinguish upon Paul’s doctrine as they ought to have done, and therefore condemned it in the gross, through ignorance.
4. They therefore desired Paul that he would by some public act, now that he had come to Jerusalem, make it to appear that the charge against him was false, and that he did not teach people to forsake Moses and to break the customs of the Jewish church, for he himself retained the use of them.
(1.) They conclude that something of this kind must be done: “What is it therefore? What must be done? The multitude will hear that thou art come to town.” This is an inconvenience that attends men of fame, that their coming and going are taken notice of more than other people’s, and will be talked of, by some for good-will and by others for ill-will. “When they hear thou art come, they must needs come together, they will expect that we call them together, to advise with them whether we should admit thee to preach among us as a brother or no; or, they will come together of themselves expecting to hear thee.” Now something must be done to satisfy them that Paul does not teach the people to forsake Moses, and they think it necessary, [1.] For Paul’s sake, that his reputation should be cleared, and that so good a man may not lie under any blemish, nor so useful a man labour under any disadvantage which may obstruct his usefulness. [2.] For the people’s sake, that they may not continue prejudiced against so good a man, nor lose the benefit of his ministry by those prejudices. [3.] For their own sake, that since they knew it was their duty to own Paul their doing it might not be turned to their reproach among those that were under their charge.
(2.) They produce a fair opportunity which Paul might take to clear himself: “Do this that we say unto thee, take our advice in this case. We have four men, Jews who believe, of our own churches, and they have a vow on them, a vow of Nazariteship for a certain time; their time has now expired (v. 23), and they are to offer their offering according to the law, when they shave the head of their separation, a he-lamb for a burnt-offering, a ewe-lamb for a sin-offering, and a ram for a peace-offering, with other offerings pertinent to them, Num. vi. 13-20. Many used to do this together, when their vow expired about the same time, either for the greater expedition or for the greater solemnity. Now Paul having so far of late complied with the law as to take upon him the vow of a Nazarite, and to signify the expiration of it by shaving his head at Cenchrea (ch. xviii. 18), according to the custom of those who lived at a distance from the temple, they desire him but to go a little further, and to join with these four in offering the sacrifices of a Nazarite: ‘Purify thyself with them according to the law; and be willing not only to take that trouble, but to be at charges with them, in buying sacrifices for this solemn occasion, and to join with them in the sacrifice.” This, they think, will effectually stop the mouth of calumny, and every one will be convinced that the report was false, that Paul was not the man he was represented to be, did not teach the Jews to forsake Moses, but that he himself, being originally a Jew, walked orderly, and kept the law; and then all would be well.
5. They enter a protestation that this shall be no infringement at all of the decree lately made in favour of the Gentile converts, nor do they intend by this in the least to derogate from the liberty allowed them (v. 25): “As touching the Gentiles who believe, we have written and concluded, and resolve to abide by it, that they observe no such things; we would not have them to be bound up by the ceremonial law by any means, but only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; but let not them be tied to the Jewish sacrifices or purifications, nor any of their rites and ceremonies.” They knew how jealous Paul was for the preservation of the liberty of the converted Gentiles, and therefore expressly covenant to abide by that. Thus far is their proposal.
V. Here is Paul’s compliance with it. He was willing to gratify them in this matter. Though he would not be persuaded not to go to Jerusalem, yet, when he was there, he was persuaded to do as they there did, v. 26. Then Paul took the men, as they advised, and the very next day, purifying himself with them, and not with multitude nor tumult, as he himself pleads (ch. xxiv. 18), he entered into the temple, as other devout Jews that came upon such errands did, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification to the priests; desiring the priest would appoint a time when the offering should be offered for every one of them, one for each. Ainsworth, on Num. vi. 18, quotes out of Maimonides a passage which gives some light to this: If a man say, Upon me behalf the oblations of a Nazarite, or, Upon me be half the shaving of a Nazarite, them he brings half the offerings by what Nazarite he will, and that Nazarite pays his offering out of that which is his. So Paul did here; he contributed what he vowed to the offerings of these Nazarites, and some think bound himself to the law of Nazariteship, and to an attendance at the temple with fastings and prayers for seven days, not designing that the offering should be offered till them, which was what he signified to the priest. Now it has been questioned whether James and the elders did well to give Paul this advice, and whether he did well to take it. 1. Some have blamed this occasional conformity of Paul’s, as indulging the Jews too much in their adherence to the ceremonial law, and a discouragement of those who stood fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. Was it not enough for James and the elders of Jerusalem to connive at this mistake in the Jewish converts themselves, but must they wheedle Paul to countenance them in it? Had it not been better, when they had told Paul how zealous the believing Jews were for the law, if they had desired, whom God had endued with such excellent gifts, to take pains with their people to convince them of their error, and to show them that they were made free from the law by their marriage to Christ? Rom. vii. 4. To urge him to encourage them in it by his example seems to have more in it of fleshly wisdom than of the grace of God. Surely Paul knew what he had to do better than they could teach him. But, 2. Others think the advice was prudent and good, and Paul’s following it was justifiable enough, as the case stood. It was Paul’s avowed principle, To the Jews became I as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews, 1 Cor. ix. 20. He had circumcised Timothy, to please the Jews; though he would not constantly observe the ceremonial law, yet, to gain an opportunity of doing good, and to show how far he could comply, he would occasionally go to the temple and join in the sacrifices there. Those that are weak in the faith are to be borne with, when those that undermine the faith must be opposed. It is true, this compliance of Paul’s sped ill to him, for this very thing by which he hoped to pacify the Jews did but provoke them, and bring him into trouble; yet this is not a sufficient ground to go upon in condemning it: Paul might do well, and yet suffer for it. But perhaps the wise God overruled both their advice and Paul’s compliance with it to serve a better purpose than was intended; for we have reason to think that when the believing Jews, who had endeavoured by their zeal for the law to recommend themselves to the good opinion of those who believed not, saw how barbarously they used Paul (who endeavoured to oblige them), they were by this more alienated from the ceremonial law than they could have been by the most argumentative or affecting discourses. They saw it was in vain to think of pleasing men that would be pleased with nothing else but the rooting out of Christianity. Integrity and uprightness will be more likely to preserve us than sneaking compliances. And when we consider what a great trouble it must needs be to James and the presbyters, in the reflection upon it, that they had by their advice brought Paul into trouble, it should be a warning to us not to press men to oblige us by doing any thing contrary to their own mind.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
We took up our baggage (). First aorist middle participle of , old verb to furnish (, ) with things necessary, to pack up, saddle horses here Ramsay holds. Here only in the N.T.
Went up (). Inchoative imperfect active of , we started to go up.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Took up our carriages [] . The verb means to pack up and carry off, or simply to pack or store away. Hence, some explain that Paul packed and stored the greater part of his luggage in Caesarea. The best texts, however, read ejpiskeuasamenoi, having equipped ourselves. Carriages is used in the old English sense, now obsolete, of that which is carried, baggage. See 1Sa 17:22, A. V.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1)“And after those days,” (meta de tas hemerastautas) “Then after those (several) days had passed,” Act 21:10.
2) “We took up our carriages,” (episkeuasamenoi) “We, having prepared our overland transportation,” -for the final part of our benevolent help to be delivered to the needy brethren in Jerusalem and Judea, from the brethren of the European and Asian churches. The idea is that “we took up our baggage or made ready our baggage,” for their own necessities and what they were carrying as alms to the needy of Judea and Jerusalem, Rom 15:25-33.
3) “And went up to Jerusalem.” (anebainomen eis lerosoluma) “We ascended (made our journey up) into Jerusalem,” from where we had made an extended rest stop in Caesarea, Act 21:8-10. The trip was more than sixty miles, completed perhaps on the third day, if they had overland carriage help to transport their alms and provide at least part time transportation for themselves, as they came to the end of their long journey, Act 19:21; Act 20:22; Act 24:17-18.
This was Paul’s fifth and last trip to Jerusalem, since his conversion, and concluded his third missionary journey. His fourth announced trip to Spain appears never to have been made. Tho he went to Rome, it was bound as a prisoner, not with the personal liberties of his other, earlier mission journeys. He had asked for prayers of the Roman brethren in a recent letter, that he might escape the hands of death in Jerusalem, to come to them, Rom 15:30-31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
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15. When we had taken up our burdens. Paul’s companions declare, that when they went about to call back Paul from danger, they did rather care for the common safety of the Church, than every man for his own life. For after they had taken the repulse, they do not refuse to take part with him in the same danger; and yet this was a plausible excuse that they were bound by no law to be hauled to suffer death, through one man’s stubbornness. And this is truly to bring our affections in subjection to God, when we are terrified with no fear, but every one of us endeavoreth, so much as he is able, to further that which we know doth please him. Also, it appeareth more plainly what great ferventness of godliness was in the rest, who of their own accord accompany him, and bring him an host; whereas, notwithstanding, they might well have feared many discommodities. −
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act. 21:15. We took up our carriages, or things to be carried (see Jdg. 18:21).. The reading of the Received text should be translated, having packed away our baggagei.e., the superfluous part of it (Olshausen); or having discharged our baggagei.e., unpacked the matters necessary for our journey to Jerusalem. But the best reading, , signifies, having packed up our baggage, and so made ourselves ready for the journey to Jerusalem (Hackett, Alford, Holtzmann, and others).
Act. 21:16. An old, better, an early disciple.i.e., one who had long been a disciple, having been probably converted on the day of Pentecost. Whether the Csarean brethren brought Mnason with them to Jerusalem (Calvin, Beza, Plumptre), or brought Paul to Mnason at Jerusalem (Bengel, Olshausen, Meyer, De Wette, Holtzmann) is uncertain. Both translations are admissible. Mnason was of Cyprus, and therefore a countryman of Barnabas (Act. 4:36).
Act. 21:17. The brethren were not the Church or the apostles (Kuinoel), but private Christians, such as Mnason and others (Wendt, Holtzmann, Hackett, and others).
Act. 21:18. James.See on Act. 12:17, Act. 15:13. The apostles, not mentioned, may by this time have been dispersed from Jerusalem, while some may have been dead. The Jerusalem Church was manifestly presided over by James and the elders.
Act. 21:19. Particularly, what things, or one by one, each of the things which.Compare Act. 15:4; Act. 15:12. That nothing is here said about the delivering up of the collections for the poor saints at Jerusalem has been explained by supposing that the we sources were no more at the authors command, but may be satisfactorily accounted for by assuming that Luke did not consider this necessary to be stated. It is perfectly arbitrary to assert thatin order, shall it be said, to guarantee the apostles good faith?information should have been given about the final disposition of those contributions which the apostle had been collecting, and with which he hoped to appease the irritated minds of his Jewish brethren (Holtzmann).
Act. 21:20. They glorified the LordRather, God (as in Gal. 1:24), on Pauls account, and not as if they themselves did not share in the general suspicion or anxiety (Holtzmann), but more likely as if they were somewhat troubled about the inferences that were being publicly drawn from Pauls Gentile missioncalled his attention to the many thousands, or myriads, of Jewish Christians, not in the world (Overbeck), but in Jerusalem and Judaea (Wendt, Zckler), who were all (not some as in Act. 15:1; Act. 15:5) zealous, not of, but for the law, as Paul himself had formerly been (Gal. 1:14).
Act. 21:21. That thou teachest all to forsake Moses.Lit., that thou teachest apostasy from Moses. The allegation contained an element of truth in so far as it was undoubtedly Pauls aim to persuade his countrymen to embrace the gospel, and in so far as their reception of the gospel would in due course emancipate them from the bondage of the law; but it was not Pauls object or business to inculcate on Jewish Christians the discontinuance of either circumcision or the ritual of Moses. (See further in Homiletical Analysis.)
Act. 21:22. The multitude (or a crowd, , without the article) must needs come together.The best MSS. omit this clause along with , for, and read, they will certainly hear that thou art come.
Act. 21:23. We have four men.The clause shows how closely the Jerusalem Church adhered to the ritual of Moses. That the vow, taken by the men, was that of the Nazarite is suggested by the reference to shaving the head.
Act. 21:24. Purify thyself with them and bear charges with, rather, for them.James, who gave this advice, was himself a NazariteDrank no wine nor strong drink, neither did he eat flesh. No razor ever touched his head; he did not anoint himself with oil; he did not use the bath. He would enter into the temple alone, and there be found kneeling on his knees and asking forgiveness for the people; so that his knees grew hard like a camels knees, because he was ever upon them worshipping God and asking forgiveness for the people (Euseb, Hist., Act. 2:23). The term for a Nazarite vow, though not prescribed by the law, was usually thirty days; but Jewish practice had rendered it possible for one who could not undertake a vow for so long a time to join in with another in the last days of his Nazaritic period on condition of bearing all the temple charges for offerings for himself and that other. The Jews considered it a specially meritorious act to assist a poor Nazarite in this manner. Agrippa I., on obtaining the sovereignty of Palestine, paid the expense of numerous indigent Nazarites who were waiting to be released from their vows (Jos., Ant., XIX. vi. 1). As Paul was a poor man, it is supposed he paid, or proposed to pay, the charges for the Nazarites out of the Gentile contributions which he brought for the poor saints in Jerusalem. Ramsay challenges the statement that Paul was a poor man, and suggests that the charges here specified, as well as the cost of his subsequent trial, were borne out of his own patrimonial estate, or hereditary property (St. Paul the Traveller, etc., pp. 310 ff). All may know should be all shall know.
Act. 21:25. The best MSS. omit the clause that they observe no such thing. This reference to the apostolic decrees confirms the credibility of the account in chap. 15.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.Act. 21:15-25
With James and the Elders at Jerusalem; or, Mistaken Counsels
I. Pauls journey to the capital.
1. The point of departure. Csarea; the abode of Philip the evangelist (Act. 21:8), the city of Cornelius (Act. 10:1), the scene of Herods death (Act. 12:19-23) and of Pauls subsequent imprisonment (Act. 23:31-35). The apostle little dreamt, on leaving Csarea, that before many days had passed he would return to it a prisoner, though, had he foreseen such, the knowledge would hardly have discomposed him (Act. 21:13). Paul one of those heroic spirits that rise superior to external circumstances, and when confronted by extremest danger forget they ever heard the name of death (Shakespeare).
2. The time of departure. After the interview with Agabus. The pathetic scene with the disciples (Act. 21:12-14), and in particular the courageous declaration of Paul, not to mention other reasons, clearly rendered it impossible for him to remain longer at Csarea. Had he done so, even the disciples might have begun to think, if not to say, when they recalled his spirited utteranceThese be brave words, O Paul! but where is thy performance? And Paul was not the man to suffer any one to charge him with either timidity or inconsistency.
3. The manner of departure. With carriages or things to be carriedi.e., baggage taken upthis including both articles necessary for the journey and the gifts Paul was bearing to the poor saints in Jerusalem. Pauls anticipations of sorrow for himself had no power to make him forget the contributions he had gathered for the needs of others. Paul was ever a rare example of self-forgetfulness.
II. Pauls travelling companions.
1. Those who had accompanied him from Asia. Whether all the seven mentioned in Act. 20:4 (Besser), or only Trophimus, Aristarchus, and Luke is debatable, though the latter opinion is the more probable.
2. Certain disciples from Csarea. Most likely Gentile converts, though they may have been Jewish Christians travelling to Jerusalem to attend the Feast of Pentecost. Wherever Paul went his noble personality, rendered more magnetic by the grace of God that was in him, drew around him circles of friends, and grappled them to his bosom as with hooks of steel. The time had not yet arrived when all men would forsake him (2Ti. 4:16) as they had formerly forsaken his Master (Mat. 26:56).
3. Mnason, an old or early disciplei.e., one who had long been a Christian, having been (it may be supposed) one of the first converts, gathered into the Christian fold on the day of Pentecost. A native of Cyprus like Barnabas, he may also have been one of those men of Cyprus who came to Antioch and were among the first to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Act. 11:20). Whether he lived at Cyprus but possessed a house as well in Jerusalem, or usually resided in Jerusalem but had been visiting at Csarea and was now returning home, or had not been to Csarea at all, but was still in Jerusalem, and Paul (according to another translation) was being conducted to him, are points concerning which no authoritative decision can be given. The one clear fact is that Paul and his companions obtained a lodging in Mnasons house, presumably because in the state of public feeling among Jewish Christians concerning Pauls Gentile mission, it might have been difficult, if not dangerous, to seek accommodation for him with one of these.
III. Pauls arrival in the city.
1. The date. That he reached Jerusalem in time for the Feast of Pentecost is apparent. His departure from Philippi took place after the days of unleavened bread, since then he had been occupied in travelling as under:
From Philippi to Troas (Act. 20:6)
5 days.
Where he abode
7 days.
From Troas to Miletus (Act. 20:13-15)
4 days.
Where he stayed (say)
3 days.
From Miletus to Patara (Act. 21:1)
3 days.
From Patara to Tyre (say)
4 days.
Where he remained (Act. 21:4)
7 days.
From Tyre to Ptolemais (Act. 21:7)
1 days.
From Ptolemais to Csarea (Act. 21:8)
2 days.
Where he halted (Act. 21:10, say)
6 days.
From Csarea to Jerusalem
2 days.
In all
44 days.
If to this be added six for the days of unleavened bread (Act. 20:6), the total of fifty will be obtained, which is the interval between Passover and Pentecost.
2. His reception. The brethreni.e., the private Christians (among them Mnason and his friends) to whom his coming was made known welcomed him and his companions gladlyMnason to his house and all of them to their hearts. Sympathising fervently with Pauls missionary enterprise they rejoiced to see him home again with tidings from the regions beyond.
IV. Pauls interview with the Church leaders.
1. Fraternal greetings. As on a former occasion (Act. 18:22), Paul saluted or embraced the recognised heads of the Christian community, who had convened to accord him welcome. These were James the brother of Our Lordnot James the younger (Hackett)who, ten or eleven years later, suffered martyrdom as a believer in Jesus of Nazareth, by being hurled from the pinnacle of the temple and despatched by stoning (Euseb., H. E., Act. 2:23); and the elders or spiritual rulers, overseers, presbyters of the various congregations in Jerusalem. That none of the apostles are mentioned as having been present suggests that none of them at that time resided in the Holy City. Some may have set forth on missionary tours, while others may have departed to be with Christ, which is far better.
2. Glowing recitals. Salutations over, the apostle, as he had done on returning from his first missionary tour (Act. 14:27), declared particularly or rehearsed one by one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministrynoting specially his hearing of Apollos (Act. 18:24), meeting with Johns disciples (Act. 19:1), and successful preaching (Act. 19:20) in Ephesus; his journey to Macedonia and Achaia (Act. 20:1-2); with the various incidents that occurred on the homeward route, in Troas (Act. 20:9), at Miletus (Act. 20:17), in Tyre (Act. 21:4), and at Csarea (Act. 21:8). More might be done to deepen the home Churchs interest in the missionary enterprise by returned missionaries, were they to lay before their Christian brethren, in fitting language, the story of what God is at present doing among the heathen.
3. Fervent thanksgivings. When the assembled elders had listened to the thrilling narrative, they glorified God for having raised up such a veteran missionary within the Church, and for having performed, through his instrumentality, such wonders of grace among the Gentiles (compare Act. 4:21, Act. 11:18). Henceforth they could entertain no doubt or suspicion, more of the earnestness of the man or of the Divine authority of his mission; and whatever friction may have previously existed between the apostle and the Jerusalem leaders, at this moment it had disappeared. The anti-Gentile spirit, if it slumbered in the Church of the Metropolis, which is doubtful, was not shared in by its rulers.
4. Mistaken counsels.
(1) The circumstances out of which these arose were two; the multitudes (myriads or tens of thousands) of Jewish Christians from all parts of the world, who were then present in the Holy City, and the misconception under which they laboured of Pauls work, which they imagined to be a crusade against circumcision and the customs of Moses, when it was no such thing. Certainly Paul taught the Gentiles that circumcision and the customs of Moses were not required for a sinners justification so that the Gentiles had no need to embrace these with a view to salvation. To the Jews among the Gentilesi.e., to the Jewish Christians he explained that even for them circumcision and the customs of Moses formed no ground of acceptance before God; but he never insisted on the discontinuance, by Jewish Christians, of either circumcision or the customs. Doubtless Jewish Christians, who came to understand the complete religious worthlessness of circumcision, and the customs as mere external performances, would gradually lay these aside; and so the notion might (and probably did) diffuse itself that Paul directly aimed at this result by means of his gospel. It was of course an error fitted to be hurtful.
(2) The motive which dictated the advice given by James and the elders was unquestionably good. They desired, if possible, to disabuse the public mind of the unjust suspicions it entertained of Pauls Hebrew orthodoxy, and to remove every stumbling block out of the way of his ministerial usefulness among his countrymen. On this principle Paul himself was always prepared to act (1Co. 9:20).
(3) The advice itself ran that Paul should associate himself with four poor Christian Jews who had taken on themselves Nazarite vows, which required them to let their hair grow, to abstain from intoxicating liquor, and generally to lead ascetic lives for a period usually of thirty days, from which vows they could not be released without the presentation in the temple of certain specified offerings (Num. 6:1-21). It was suggested that Paul should, according to a custom then prevailing, join himself to these four men during the last seven days of their vow, should along with them abstain from wine, and lot his hair grow; and that at the end of these days he and they should shave their heads, while he paid for the necessary offerings to clear himself and themagain after the manner of pious Jews of a wealthier sort, who were accustomed thus to assist their poorer brethren. James and the elders believed that by so doing Paul would demonstrate to his excited countrymen that there was no truth in the information they had received, and that he, Paul, was as good and orderly a Jew as any one among themselves. To the suggestion of this course they may have felt prompted by remembering that Paul had once at least before at Cenchrea undertaken a similar vow (Act. 18:18).
(4) The consideration by which James and the elders hoped to urge this course upon the apostle was that they had gone a long way in making concessions to the Gentiles, having written and concluded or given judgment, that they, the Gentiles, should observe no such thing as circumcision and the customs of Moses, but only that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols and from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication.
(5) Nevertheless the advice was a mistake. What it recommended, if carried out, as it was, might not have been sinful in itself or unlawful for Paul from his point of view (1Co. 6:12; 1Co. 10:23), but it was certainly of doubtful policy as tending to confirm Jewish Christians in the idea that Paul did regard the law as in some fashion indispensable for salvation, while in point of fact he did not, and practically worthless, since it neither effected what they hoped for, nor averted what they feared, neither allayed the groundless suspicions against Paul, nor prevented an outbreak of hostility against him (Act. 21:28).
Lessons.
1. The lawfulness of Christian prudenceexemplified in lodging Paul with Mnason.
2. The duty of Christian brotherly kindnessillustrated in Pauls reception by the Christians of Jerusalem and the leaders of the Church there.
3. The doubtfulness even of Christian compromisesas seen in the course recommended by James and followed by Paul.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act. 21:16. An Old Disciple.Exemplified in Mnason of Cyprus.
I. A striking proof of Divine faithfulness.In preserving Mnason to be a Christian of long standing.
II. A satisfying evidence of the reality and power of religion.Had Mnason not found it so, he had not adhered to it so long.
III. A precious storehouse of Christian experience.One who has long been a disciple must have learnt much of the secret of the Lord.
IV. A possible instrument of valuable service.To the Church and the world. As there are tasks that can better be performed by young believers, so there are offices that can be more efficiently filled by aged disciples.
V. A deserving object of Christian honour and esteem.If the hoary head is entitled to respect and veneration, much more is it so when found in the way of righteousness.
VI. A Christian pilgrim drawing near the better land.Heaven may be near the young believer, it never can be far off from the old disciple.
Act. 21:17-20. A Foreign Missionarys Return.
I. The welcome he received.Joyful.
II. The salutation he brought.Peace.
III. The story he told.The triumphs of the cross.
IV. The enthusiasm he enkindledThey glorified God.
Act. 21:20-24. Concessions to Weak Brethren.
I. Legitimate.
1. When they can be made without violating consciencei.e., when they refer to things indifferent.
2. When they help to remove stumbling-blocks out of the weak brothers way.
3. When they assist in promoting peace.
II. Illegitimate.
1. When, though right in themselves, they tend to mislead the weak brother by causing him to think his position only right.
2. When adopted more from a desire of peace than with a view to promote what is right.
3. When they are calculated to offend as many as they please.
Act. 21:21-24. The Worlds Misrepresentations of the Followers of Christ.
I. Are frequently wide-spread.
II. Mostly have nothing in them.
III. Always are difficult to remove.
IV. Seldom get corrected by compromise.
Act. 21:26. Doubtful Actions; or, the inconsistencies of great and good men.
I. State the case referred to.Pauls arrival in Jerusalem; welcome from the brethren; meeting with the elders and James. Jamess proposal and the reason of it. Danger apprehended from probable suspicions of Jewish Christians. Pauls adoption of the course recommended, and joining of himself with the four men who had a vow.
II. Was this action wrong?Consider
1. How it may have looked to James.
(1) Unless James had deemed the course recommended legitimate it may be assumed he would not have made the proposal.
(2) Jamess motives were unquestionably rightto ensure Pauls safety by disarming the hostility of the Jews; to gain a hearing from his co-religionists for Pauls gospel; to set the apostle right with the Jewish Christians.
(3) Yet the course recommended may have been wrong, though the course itself may have appeared right and the motives prompting it may have been good.
2. How it may have looked to Paul.
(1) Of great importance to allay the wide-spread suspicion that was abroad concerning him, and to gain a hearing for the gospel.
(2) No small matter to disabuse the minds of his weaker brethren of their misconceptions concerning himself and his mission.
(3) Not against his principles to take a vow, since he had done so at Cenchrea (Act. 18:18).
(4) In harmony with his conduct in circumcising Timothy (Act. 16:3).
(5) Not inconsistent with his refusal to perform the same rite on Titus (Gal. 2:3).
(6) Not the same as Peters eating with the Gentiles at Antioch and then withdrawing (Gal. 2:11-12).
(7) It was only a carrying out of Pauls principle of becoming all things to all men to gain some (1Co. 9:20, etc.).
3. How it may look to some still.
(1) Of doubtful morality. Not that to recommend or adopt such a course of action was wrong; but that being liable to misconstruction it should neither have been recommended nor adopted without serious consideration. Neither Paul nor James believed that observance of the moral law was indispensable for salvation; but what about the multitude of Jews? Would they not reason, that if Paul observed the customs they must be absolutely binding on the conscience?
(2) Of doubtful expediency. It was meant to save Paul, but did not; intended to gain the Jews, but did not; designed to recommend Christianity; but is it certain it did not rather confirm the Jews, both Hebrew and Christian, in the notion of the permanent obligation of the law of Moses?
III. Lessons from the story.
1. Compromises are seldom successful.
2. Good men may give bad advice and take false steps.
3. The short road to victory is ever steadfast adherence to principle.
Note.Surely these records of the Acts, with their unflinching truth, speak with a strange mighty power to us after all these ages. We feel, while we read of the awful fall and miserable death of one of the Twelve (Act. 1:16-20); of the sin and punishment of two of the most notable believers of the first age (Act. 5:1-11); of the jealous murmuring and discontent of the poor saints (Act. 6:1); of the failure in courage of Mark and the bitter quarrel of two of the most prominent Christian leaders (Act. 15:38-40); and here of this doubtful compromise of Paul and James that we have before us a real picture, painted from life, of the Church of the first days, by one who never shrinks to paint the errors, the faults, and the grievous mistakes of even the most distinguished of the first believers.Spence.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
21.
IN JERUSALEM. Act. 21:15-16.
Act. 21:15
And after these days we took up our baggage and went up to Jerusalem.
Act. 21:16
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.
Act. 21:15-16 The baggage was again packed and the short journey was made to the busy city. Some of the saints of Caesarea went along and secured permission from one, Mnason, who had a house in Jerusalem, with whom the party could lodge while celebrating the feast of Pentecost. The city was particularly crowded at this time and a place to stay would be a welcome provision.
Let us not forget that Paul had with him the bounty taken up among the Gentile churches and that this money was to be distributed as soon as possible.
So ends the third and last missionary journey or evangelistic tour. The distance traveled was approximately 3,400 miles.
828.
How was the housing problem of Jerusalem solved for Paul and his company?
829.
How far did Paul travel on the third journey?
830.
This visit to Jerusalem was like what other visit? In what way?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(15) After those days we took up our carriages . . .Better, we took up our baggage. The English word now used always of the vehicle that carries, was in common use at the time of the Authorised version, for the things carriedthe luggage or impedimenta of a traveller. So, in 1Sa. 17:22, David leaves his carriage (or, as in the margin, the vessels from upon him) in the hand of the keeper of the carriage. So, in Udals translation of Erasmuss Paraphrase of the New Testament (Luk. 5:14), the bearers of the paralytic are said to have taken their heavie carriage to the house-roof. (Comp. also Jdg. 18:21; Isa. 10:28; Isa. 46:1.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
To Jerusalem , Act 21:15-17 .
15. Carriages The things that were carried; their baggage, or luggage.
Up to Jerusalem Paul now goes “bound in spirit” from Cesarea up to Jerusalem; he will soon return, bound in Roman chains, from Jerusalem to Cesarea. His journey will best be illustrated, geographically, on his return. (See notes on Act 23:31-33.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And after these days we took up our baggage and went up to Jerusalem.’
Their time at Caesarea coming to an end they took up their baggage (which included the Collection) and went up to Jerusalem. The verb ‘took up our baggage’ may indicate that they used horses.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Paul Meets with James and the Elders at Jerusalem In Act 21:15-26 Paul arrives in Jerusalem and meets James and the elders. Those who were traveling with Paul understood that they may be putting themselves into mortal danger by accompanying Paul. As Matthew Henry notes, Paul’s boldness gave them courage to take the perilous journey with him. [259]
[259] Matthew Henry, Acts, in Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1991), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), notes on Acts 21:15-26.
Act 21:17-25 records the meeting that Paul had with James and the elders. James is traditionally said to be the first bishop of the church at Jerusalem, which is implied in Act 12:17; Act 15:13, and Gal 2:12. It is most likely that Paul officially handed over the collection for the poor saints at this time with the church leaders serving as eye-witnesses.
In this passage of Scripture James and the elders of the church in Jerusalem persuade Paul to join in a Nazarite vow with other Jewish believers, perhaps concerned with his presence renewing Jewish persecutions against the believers living in Jerusalem. In accepting this vow, Paul must have seen the Law as holy, and not as something bad (Rom 7:12). In other words, he saw the vow as a holy act.
Rom 7:12, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”
Act 21:15 Comments – There is a textual variant in Act 21:15, where some ancient Greek manuscripts read (G643), literally meaning, “having discharged our baggage” ( Alford), or “to lay aside, get rid of” ( BDAG), but it is translated as “pack up baggage” ( Strong), “pack up and leave” ( BDAG) because of the context of this passage. Other Greek manuscripts read , which means, “having packed up” ( Alford) “we made preparations” ( BDAG), or “we took our baggage” ( Zodhiates), and is the generally favored reading because it is supported with better manuscripts ( Alford). [260]
[260] Henry Alford, The Greek Testament: With A Critically Revised Text, vol. 2, third edition (London: Rivington’s, Waterloo Place, 1857), 220.
The EGT tells us the journey from Caesarea to Jerusalem was sixty-four miles. [261]
[261] W. Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor’s Greek Testament, vol. 2 (New York: George H. Doran Company, n.d.), 447.
Act 21:16 “and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus” – Comments – Mnason is mentioned nowhere else in the Scriptures. His Greek name was commonly used and it suggests he was Greek convert to Christianity. [262]
[262] W. Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor’s Greek Testament, vol. 2 (New York: George H. Doran Company, n.d.), 447-448.
“an old disciple” – Comments – The phrase “an old disciple” ( ) can mean that he was either an old man, “an aged disciple” ( YLT), but more popularly believed to me that he was an early convert to the Christian faith, “a disciple of long standing” ( BDAG) “an early disciple” ( ASV, Rotherham, RSV), “one of the early disciples.”
Act 21:16 Comments – Because this journey was sixty-four miles and took several days, some scholars surmise that Paul lodged with Mnason of Cyprus along the journey before reaching Jerusalem, and that members of the church at Jerusalem would probably have made accommodations for Paul when he reached there, as the next statement implies, “And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.” (Act 21:17) However, other scholars believe the disciples of Caesarea brought Paul “to Mnason,” who was waiting to receive them in Jerusalem. These two views are based upon whether the subject of the Greek participle ( ) is “the disciples of Caesarea” being brought to Mnason, or whether the subject is “Mnason,” who being brought along with the disciples on their trip to Jerusalem.
Act 21:17 Comments – Alford understands “the brethren” to refer to the believers in general, and not to the church leaders, who will be mentioned in the next verse. [263]
[263] Henry Alford, The Greek Testament: With A Critically Revised Text, vol. 2, third edition (London: Rivington’s, Waterloo Place, 1857), 221.
Act 21:20 “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord” – Comments – Paul testified of his ministry in such a way that God received all of the glory and honor.
“and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law” Comments – Eusebius gives us an account of the fears of the Jewish leaders when a great multitude of their people believed in Jesus while James the Lord’s brother was head of the church in Jerusalem.
“Therefore when many even of the rulers believed, there was a commotion among the Jews and Scribes and Pharisees, who said that there was danger that the whole people would be looking for Jesus as the Christ.” ( Ecclesiastical History 2.23.10)
Origen believes the number of believing Jews in his day did not exceed 144,000.
“But the number of believers is small who belong to Israel according to the flesh; one might venture to assert that they would not nearly make up the number of a hundred and forty-four thousand.” ( Origen’s Commentary on the Gospel of Joh 1:2)
Act 21:22 “the multitude must needs come together” – Comments – Alford reads, “a multitude (of these Judaizers) will certainly come together.” [264]
[264] Henry Alford, The Greek Testament: With A Critically Revised Text, vol. 2, third edition (London: Rivington’s, Waterloo Place, 1857), 222.
Act 21:23-24
Act 18:18, “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.”
We read about this Nazarite vow in Num 6:1-21, which included the shaving of the head and the presentation of an offering to the priest when the time of separation expires.
Josephus records a similar incident when King Agrippa made an offering to the Temple and ordered many of the Nazarites to shave their heads. Thus, his offered served to pay for these Nazarites. ( Antiquities 19.6.1)
Act 21:26 Comments – In Act 21:26 Paul makes an offering ( ) (G4376) in the Temple. A number of commentators note that, in a sense, Paul became a Jew that he might win the Jews (1Co 9:22).
1Co 9:22, “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The First Witness of Paul’s Innocence, Standing Before the Jewish Mob and Roman Chief Captain (A.D. 58) Act 21:15 to Act 22:29 records the testimony of Paul before the Jewish mob at the Temple and before the Roman’s chief captain. This is the first speech that Luke records of Paul’s defense of the Christian faith. Paul now stands before the Jewish mob at the Temple (Act 21:15 to Act 22:29); he will stand before the Sanhedrin and addressed the Jewish leaders (Act 22:30 to Act 23:35); he will stand before Felix the governor (Act 24:1-27); he will stand before Festus the subsequent governor (Act 25:1-12), and he will stand before King Agrippa (Act 25:13 to Act 26:32). These preliminary trials lead up to Paul’s appeal to Caesar. Many scholars suggest Luke compiles this sequence of trials in order to reveal Paul’s innocence as a legal defense that could have been used during Paul’s actual trial.
Outline – Here is a proposed outline to Act 21:15 to Act 22:29:
1. Paul Meets with James and the Elders at Jerusalem Act 21:15-26
2. Paul’s Arrest in the Temple Act 21:27-36
3. Paul’s Testimony to the Mob Act 21:37 to Act 22:22
4. Paul and the Roman Chief Captain Act 22:23-29
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Act 21:15. We took up our carriages, Making up our baggage, we went, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 21:15-16 . .] after we had equipped ourselves ( praeparati , Vulg.), made ourselves ready; i.e . after we had put our goods, clothes, etc., in a proper state for our arrival and residence in Jerusalem. [120] The word, occurring here only in the N.T., is frequent in Greek writers and in the LXX. Such an equipment was required by the feast, and by the intercourse which lay before them at the holy seat of the mother church and of the apostles. Others arbitrarily, as if stood in the text (Xen. Hell . vii. 2. 18); “sarcinas jumentis imponere,” Grotius.
.] sc . . Winer, p. 548 [E. T. 737]; Buttmann, neut. Gr . p. 138 [E. T. 158].
.] who brought us to Mnason, with whom we were to lodge in Jerusalem. So correctly Luther. The dative . is not dependent on (in opposition to Knatchbull, Winer, p. 201 [E. T. 268 f.], and Fritzsche, Conject . I. p. 42; and see on Act 2:33 ), but to be explained, with Grotius, from attraction, so that, when resolved, it is: , . See on Rom 4:17 . Bornemann, Schol. in Luc . p. 177 (comp. on Rosenmller, Repert . II. p. 253); Buttmann, p. 244 [E. T. 284]; Dissen, ad Dem. de cor . p. 233 f. The participle indicates what they by . . not merely wished (infinitive), but at the same time did : they came with us and brought us, etc. See Hermann, ad Viger . p. 773; Bernhardy, p. 477.
Others (Vulgate, Erasmus, Castalio, Beza, Calvin, Wolf) take the sense of the whole passage to be: adducentes secum apud quem hospitaremur Mnasonem . Likewise admitting of justification linguistically from the attraction (Khner, II. 508; Valckenaer, Schol . I. p. 586; Hermann, ad Soph. El . 643. 681); but then we should have to suppose, without any indication in the context, that Mnason had been temporarily resident at Caesarea precisely at that time when the lodging of the travellers in his house at Jerusalem was settled with him.
Nothing further is known of Mnason himself. The name is Greek (Ael. V. H . iii. 19; Athen. vi. p. 264 C, 272 B; Lucian, Philops . 22), and probably he was, if not a Gentile Christian, at any rate a Hellenist. Looking to the feeling which prevailed among the Jewish Christians against Paul (Act 21:20-21 ), it was natural and prudent that he should lodge with such a one, in order that he should enter into further relations to the church.
.] So much the more confidently might Paul and his companions be entrusted to him. He was a Christian from of old (not a , 1Ti 3:6 ); whether he had already been a Christian from the first Pentecost, or had become so, possibly through connection with his countryman Barnabas, or in some other manner, cannot be determined.
[120] The erroneous reading ., though defended by Olshausen, would at most admit the explanation: after we had conveyed away our baggage (Polyb. iv. 81. 11; Diod. Sic. xiii. 91; Joseph. Antt . xiv. 16. 2), according to which the travellers, in order not to go as pilgrims to the feast at Jerusalem encumbered with much luggage, would have sent on their baggage before them. The leaving behind of the superfluous baggage at Caesarea (Wolf, Olshausen, and others), or the laying aside of things unworthy for their entrance into and residence in Jerusalem (Ewald), would be purely imported ideas. Valckenaer, p. 584, well remarks: “Putidum est lectiones tarn aperte mendosas, ubi verae repertae fuere, in sanctissimis libris relinqui.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. (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. (17) And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. (18) And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. (19) And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. (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: (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. (22) What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. (23) Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; (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. (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. (26) Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
In addition to what I have already observed, on the subject of Paul’s giving in to Jewish customs, upon this, and the like occasions, (See Act 18:23 and the Commentary on that place,) I would only detain the Reader to remark here, how much this temporizing Spirit produced the very reverse of what it was intended. From what motive it was that the Apostle was prevailed upon to comply with their advice, is not said: but, from Paul’s general conduct on this subject, there can be no doubt, that it was foreign to his own sentiments. Let the Reader consult but his Epistle to the Galatians, and especially Gal 2:11 to the end, and Gal 5:1-6 , and he must conclude, that the Apostle’s heart was not in this business. And, is it not probable, that the proposal made by those friends at Jerusalem, arose from their having heard, that Paul had done the same thing at Cenchre? So that a departure in one instance, only makes way for another. And even our friends, as we here discover, take advantage therefrom of our weakness. Precious Jesus! where shall we look for perfection, but to thee? thou holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens! Heb 7:26 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 82
Prayer
Almighty God, thou hast called us to thyself in Christ Jesus thy Son. We belong to thee; thou hast made us, and not we ourselves; we are the work of thine hands; we represent thine own wonderful thought. Thou didst make man in thine own image and likeness, and to that great image thou art drawing him every day by gracious providence, by manifold service, by heavenly inspiration. Thou hast charged us with a great responsibility; thou hast made us stewards; thou hast put us in trust of great things, and from us thou dost expect great replies. Thou dost search our hearts as with a lighted candle; thou dost try our motives, and there is no escape from the burning of thy judgment. Help us to know where our resources are, and to avail ourselves of their plentifulness, so that we may never know the pain of poverty, but may always know the security of the unsearchable riches of Christ. Thou hast enabled us to say, under difficult circumstances, “The will of the Lord be done.” This is thy miracle in our hearts. Thou hast broken down our will and put in its place thine own. It is well; it is best; it is right. Thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven; not our will, but thine be done. Thy will is full of wisdom and goodness; it is founded upon thy righteousness and charged with all the wisdom of omniscience. We are of yesterday, and know nothing, so how can we trust our own wisdom or will? Look upon us as little children; take hold of our hands; lead us on every day, and comfort us with such whispered love and such surprises of grace as shall fit our necessity and be the healing of our agony. Oh the pain the bliss of living! Surely this is sweet torment! Thou dost lift us up, and we cast ourselves down; thou dost show us a great light, but we must climb up to it through thick clouds; all thy way is a wonder; thy purpose is a hidden love. We cannot walk round it, or lay a line upon it, or put it into words, and carry it like a discovery of our own. Thou dost forbid our words and accept only the worship of our silence in the higher moods and most marvellous display of power. Thou wilt not let us boast. Sometimes we would open our mouth in vanity, but then dost thou take our word away, and we are as dumb things before thee. This is the Lord’s rebuke, often sore, always good. Thou dost call us to read more deeply the inner meanings of things. Thou dost show us the kingdom through the parable. Thou wilt not let us rest finally anywhere. Thou hast only stopping-places where we may sit down awhile, and then soon be up again to pursue life’s unwinding and immeasurable road. Help us to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. May our heart have no desire but his will. Then shall it be granted in many answers yea, in redundance of love, in miracles of grace. Thou art showing us the end upon the earth that we may know the beginning of better things in heaven. Thou dost dig the grave quite closely to our houses, lest we be fascinated by the garden and forget the tomb. One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet; another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and never eateth with pleasure. We cannot tell how thou wilt finish our lesson here; we cannot count the number of the pages and say “This is the end.” Thou dost break off our speech in the middle of a sentence, and when we are about to speak the word that would reveal everything, thou dost fasten our lips as with a seal. This is thy way; it is in the clouds; it is on the deep waters; it is in the wilderness; we cannot follow it, and when mockers ask us to explain, we can but fall to pray. We put one another into thy kind hands, thou Disposer of the lot. Thou knowest what each most needs, what some dare not ask for, and what all require; so what can we say to thee but “The will of the Lord be done”? We have prayers with which we could torment thee, desires we could urge upon thy throne, but we should be before thee like talking fools and men that know not the weight of their own words. So we will only pray to be taught to pray. We will not speak our own prayers, but the prayer of thy Son, our Priest. “Not my will, but thine be done.” On another day, unbeclouded and infinite in light, thou wilt show the answer to the riddle; thou wilt give the solution to the problem; thou wilt explain the mystery. We want that day to be now, but thou wilt not allow our impatience to speak; we will wait for it. This is the triumph of thine own faith wrought in our souls. Pity us as we pity blind men. Have compassion upon us as we have compassion upon dying children who cannot tell where the pain is. The Lord look upon us through his own tears, and see in us, not sinners, but his own image and likeness, spoiled by us, but redeemed and reclaimed by the mystery of the Cross. Comfort us day by day; deliver us from the demon of despair; give us hope again sweet hope, singing hope, bright hope. May there come upon our way such cloudless light as shall make us dance before the Lord for very joy of heart. Make the house a home; the home a church; the church the lower heaven. As for those who are not with us, we would they were; and this will of ours was first thine. But Jesus failed; when he would have gathered the cities as a hen gather-eth a brood under her wings, they would not; and he cried over them a great rain of tears. It is so with us. The prodigal will not come to the feast; the far-away wanderer will wander farther; we see the vacant place, and it makes havoc in our heart. As for those who are dying going up like dew exhaling in the sun the Lord bless us, for he has blessed them, and when we weep, may it be for ourselves. The Lord be our Father, Mother, Nurse; the Lord wait upon us like a servant; the Lord keep us as in a rock; the Lord look upon us as a sun; the Lord defend us like a shield. Amen.
Act 21:15-40
15. And after these days we took up our baggage [G., “packed up.” Got our things ready, or, equipped ourselves for the visit to Jerusalem at the feast. The marginal reading of the R. V. is the correct one], and went up to Jerusalem.
16. And there went with us also certain of the disciples from Csarea, bringing with them one Mnason [perhaps Greek form of Manasseh ] of Cyprus, a Cypriote Jew or proselyte who had his home at Jerusalem, as had also Barnabas and his sister Mary, mother of John Mark, who were also Cypriotes, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge [arrangements for lodging were usually made beforehand on these visits to the feasts].
17. And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
18. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
19. And when we had saluted them, he rehearsed one by one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
20. And they, when they heard it, glorified God; and they said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands [G., “myriads,” a word used indefinitely of large numbers] there are among the Jews of them which have believed; and [here we come again upon one of the greatest difficulties of early church life] they are all zealous for the law.
21. [ Gal 1:14 ]: and they have been informed [“instructed” as in Luk 1:4 ] concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
22. What is it therefore [G., What then is there? i.e., How lies the case]? they will certainly hear that thou art come.
23. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men with a vow on them [Luk 18:18 . This vow differed from that of Aquila, being the regular vow of a Nazarite of days, Num 6:1-21 . The usual time was thirty days, at the end of which the Nazarite shaved off and turned the “hair of his separation,” offering the prescribed sacrifices in the temple. Wealthy and pious friends often undertook this expense for poor Nazarites]; these take and purify [same word as in LXX. Num 6:3 , Num 6:8 ; not therefore purify, but “become with them a Nazarite,” or, be consecrated with them: share with them their vow] thyself with them, and be at charges for them,
24. That they may shave their heads: and all shall know that there is no truth in the things whereof they have been informed [instructed] concerning thee; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, keeping the law.
25. But as touching the Gentiles which have believed [ Num 15:5-31 ], we wrote [B, D, 40, and many vss. have “sent.” which is preferable. “Wrote” is supplied from Num 15:20 , and erroneously retained by R. V.] giving judgment [G., “sent after we had judged that.” It is to be borne in mind that the “sent” refers to the Gentile brethren of Syria and Cilicia who had requested these elders of Jerusalem to resolve questions raised abroad by unauthorised critics from Jerusalem] that they should keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from fornication.
26. Then Paul took the men, and the next day [“and” should follow “them”] purifying himself with them [G., “having consecrated,” i.e., having entered into participation of their Nazarite state] went into the temple, declaring [lit. “giving common notice of”] the [prospective] fulfilment of the days of purification, until [duration of the notice] the offering was offered for every one of them.
27. And when the seven days [the usual notice] were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude, and laid hands on him [so the precaution taken to satisfy the prejudices of weak brethren brought upon Paul the deadly enemies of the faith], crying out, Men of Israel, help:
28. This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place: and moreover he brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath defiled this holy place.
29. For they had [G., “there were who had”] before seen [cf. the “saw” of Num 15:27 ] with him in the city [cf. “in the temple” of Num 15:27 , and “into the temple” of Num 15:28 ] Trophimus the Ephesian, whom they supposed [and then asserted as a fact, and then multiplied into the “Greeks” of Num 15:28 ] that Paul had brought into the temple.
30. And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they laid hold of Paul, and dragged him out of the temple: and straightway the doors were shut [that the temple might not be defiled with Paul’s blood],
31. And as they were seeking to [trying to (by beating)] kill him, tidings came [to the castle of Antonia, bordering on the N. W. side of the temple] up to the chief captain of the band [“tribune of the cohort”], that all Jerusalem was in confusion.
32. And forthwith he took soldiers and centurions, and ran down upon them, and they, when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, left off beating Paul.
33. Then the chief captain came near, and laid hold on him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains [measure necessary for immediate security of Paul and appeasement of the multitude]; and inquired who he was, and what he had done.
34. And some shouted [word only used besides in reference to Christ, Luk 23:21 , and Herod, ch. Luk 12:22 ] one thing, some another, among the crowd: and when he could not know the certainty for the uproar, he commanded him to be brought into the castle.
35. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the crowd:
36. For the multitude of the people followed after crying out, Away with him [same word Luk 23:18 ].
37. And as Paul was about to be brought into the castle, he saith [in Greek] unto the chief captain, May I say something unto thee? And he said, Dost thou know Greek?
38. Art thou not then [G., ” Not then thou art,” i.e., Thou art not. Paul’s Greek disabused the tribune of the idea that he was] the Egyptian, which before these days stirred up to sedition and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the Assassins [“banditti,” lit. daggermen. This “Mahdi” of Nero’s reign led his followers to the Mount of Olives, where they were to have seen the walls of Jerusalem fall down. He was defeated by Felix, the worthless procurator in whose lime barditti, “the Assassins,” became a recognized profession]?
39. But Paul said, I am a Jew, of Tarsus, in Cilicia [a Greek colony], a citizen of no mean city; and I beseech thee give me leave to speak unto the people.
40. And when he had given him leave, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with the hand unto the people; and when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew [the Syro-Chaldaic dialect, 1, 19] language, saying.
The Beginning of the End
Very tender are these words, “an old disciple,” which you find in the 16th verse. What is the meaning of the expression? Had Mnason been a long time in the Church, or was he an old man who, late in life, had embraced the Christian faith? Let us take it that he had been a believer for a long time. You do not find such men giving up the faith. It is very seldom that an old Christian takes off his Christianity, lays if down like an outworn garment and says, “That is of no further use.” I have never known any such case. Christianity grows in its hold upon the human heart as the years run away. It is dearer to the old disciple than it can be to the young scholar; he has seen more of it, enjoyed its sweetness more, felt the need of it more, seen its power to sustain and help all human life more. Very seldom I could use a more emphatic term does the old believer turn away from the Cross and say he has believed a lie. That circumstance ought to have its weight as a matter of evidence. Whatever will bear well the wear and tear of human life ought to be spoken of respectfully. You speak well of a wall that stands against all weathers year after year a wall which the wind has not blown down, which the floods have not washed away. Laying your hand upon it with somewhat of affection, you say, “This is the right sort of building; this is the kind of building they used to put up in olden times.” Surely you might say as much about the Christian faith, which never fails; always most when we need it most, whispering when we cannot bear loud speaking; speaking loudly when our attention has wandered far; finding us water in the wilderness and food in stony places. We ought to be able to speak as affectionately about that as about a wall that has stood through wind and rain, and laying our hand upon it, we should say with tender affection, “This is the thought that has comforted me night and day the eternal, the unchangeable thought the friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” Decency ought to have some claim upon civilized men.
Take it that he was an old man when he embraced the Christian faith. Then there is hope for some who have not yet laid hold upon it. “How long halt ye between two opinions?” If you were enemies, we could deal with you as such; but you are not enemies; you hover, merely falter; you cannot leave us, you look in again. What is the meaning of that? Let the heart answer. The enemy will whisper to you, “It is too late now; you are too old; keep away.” But all that is sweetest in human history and in the experience of living Christians would say, “On the contrary; make the most of your time; the day is far spent, the door is still open, go in now.” Here is a faith that will condescend to the weakest, accept no patronage from the strongest, tarry for the old cripple that wants to catch the king’s chariot. Now is the day of salvation!
When Paul and his friends went up to Jerusalem “the brethren received them gladly.” I am not sure about that; they never have been received gladly up to this moment. The gladness admitted of being stated in one half-line “the brethren received us gladly.” A kind of sentence put in to help a sentence; a few words added to help the rhythm of the expression; a scattering of syllables to help the scanning of the blank verse I have no particular faith in that gladness. More would have been said about it; Paul never did content himself with half a line when he was recognizing the kindness of his friends. Read this letter to the Philippians, and tell me if in one half-line he dismisses all the Philippian love. They never liked Paul at Jerusalem. He was too big for any one city; he did not go up to Jerusalem in the sense of approaching some majestic place that common people might hardly touch; he descended upon it, and even the bishop and elders did not understand his humble haughtiness.
Paul saluted James and all the elders, and “declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it they glorified the Lord.” I feel uncertain about that. There is a piety that disgusts me. Presently we shall know the meaning of their glorification of God. They might have said something to Paul; that battered old warrior was worthy of having a kiss on the right cheek and on the left cheek and on the scarred forehead. There is a way of turning from a man that you may pray, when you ought first to have thrown your arms around him, and said, “God bless thee, old warrior! grand old fighter, soldier of the Cross; come, let us kneel together and together pray.” Beware of cold piety, of ceremonial prayer, of turning the happiest incidents of life into state occasions, whereupon you must address the Lord as if he were an ivory deity. A little more humanity at Jerusalem would have done no harm; but Jerusalem is forgotten: Paul remains. James and the elders are little more than names. Paul has a seat in every room in the house, and when the house has most to give him he is most welcome. A little humanity in the Church would do the Church no harm. A little recognition of merit, a kindly reference to loving service done by man to man, friend to friend, helps the wheel of life to run round more smoothly. It would be so at home if you would say how thankful you are, how pleased with what has been done for you, and how kind it was to think about you at all. Your house would become a sweet home, and every busy worker in it would forget weariness in thankfulness for the appreciation shown.
They could not have been so greatly occupied with the glory of God, for they instantly proposed to Paul to do something that was of the nature of a compromise, and they said, with such whining and broken voices, “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 .” Not the language of bishops. There the Church goes down. That spirit is still abroad amongst us; we are bound to the letter, and we are saying of men of free spirit and Pauline heart, “As for us, we are all right with regard to them; but there is a general impression abroad that they are not orthodox.” “Be quiet or say something make a speech read a paper attend a service nothing, nothing in the report, but do this.” Was there ever such a craven-hearted thing as a Church with this note in its throat? The great Apostle had to prove himself to a number of anonymous Jews to be right in spirit! The men who are buried in a crowd, in a grave no man can find, were tacitly if not distinctly to dictate the policy of the world’s greatest Christian prince and hero! But James had lived a long time in the metropolis; he seldom went from home; he was a man that could not bear a noise, and he would offer on the altar of prejudice this oblation. It was not right, but Paul will not hinder the great cause; Paul, who is seventy-fold more of a bishop than James could ever be, was willing to become “all things to all men,” that he might by any means save some. We can imagine the smile of the heart as he consented to be “one of five,” to go through certain customs and ceremonies in order to prove himself orthodox a thing which a man can never be by mere observance and outward ceremony. Orthodoxy does not consist in doing certain things, but in doing something in the soul. It is the soul that is orthodox, not the custom that is approved.
But when did Paul ever sacrifice the greater to the less? He seems to have said to himself, “If any good can be done in this way, I am willing to do it. I have made my position distinct in Jerusalem before today, and I have acted upon the whole meaning of that position all this time; but if any real and substantial good can be done by this proposed course, I am willing to undergo it.” But course-men were not to be so satisfied. “Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple…”. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place.” In the very act of attempting to prove himself orthodox, to people who had no right to judge his orthodoxy, he was seized as a hypocrite. The temple was no protection. It suits some men to believe others to be hypocrites rather than to give them credit for good intentions, instead of saying, “We have been misinformed about this man, here he is submitting to the law of Moses actually in the temple itself; let us apologize to him: put out our hands to him, and say, ‘Brother, we have been mistaken.'” You cannot satisfy blackmailers; pay them what you like today, they will return tomorrow. There are blackmailers in the Church as well as in the world. You can never live holy enough to put an end to their censure, their malice, their diabolism of spirit; they want more; they demand it in savage tones; they reject all the life that has been lived; and your last prayer on earth be it the mightiest ever breathed from the lips of man will be counted nothing by the black-mailer, who would rather you were in hell than in heaven. Never submit to them: never treat with them; never offer to go an inch with them! Resist beginnings; stand upon the eternal right and say, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?” What applies to character applies also to argument. There are blackmailers in controversy; they want to hear the argument stated again, increased, enhanced, continually enlarged. When you have satisfied Aristotle with your logic, you have not begun to touch the black-mailer; he does not want the logic, he wants to torment the logician.
It will go badly with Paul then but for the State. I thank God for the State as well as for the Church. James and the elders will not do much for Paul now, for, dear old gentlemen! they did not like noise. There is a time when the State must assert its authority. “The chief captain of the band” was told “that all Jerusalem was in an uproar;” so he “immediately took soldiers and centurions” (they were the only arguments he could recognize) “and ran down upon them;” and when the mob “saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.” Cowards! And these were the men that Paul was asked to conciliate! He had been told respecting them that, if he would only shave his head and go in the temple for a while, all the people would be quiet and respectful and would recognize him. To be recognized by them was an intolerable patronage.
“Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was and what he had done.” The State knows nothing about Christian ministers. It seems comical sweetly and piously amusing to hear the chief captain. I love him already for his innocent ignorance. Said he, “Art thou not that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?” You think the State knows you not a hair of your head; never heard of you. You go forward as a Congregationalist, and what does the State know about a “Congregationalist”? You will be mistaken for an Egyptian that made an uproar once, and went out into the wilderness with four thousand men that were murderers! You don’t suppose the chief captains of the band know anything about Congregationalists, or prayer-meetings, or ministers’ meetings, or deacons’ meetings? There is no rebuke perhaps more humbling than an inquiry as to your identity by men whom you thought respected you, and knew all about you. Do not make that mistake. A senator of this country asked me, with a verdant innocence, if mine was the only Congregational church in London a man who voted upon ecclesiastical questions, and was supposed, by virtue of his office and position, to have a good deal to do with the adjustment of ecclesiastical matters. It would be amusing to Paul to be mistaken for an Egyptian; a kind of grim delight would be in his old heart as he was thought to be the leader of a murderous band. He, who had not been ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; he, who had held the Cross aloft, until by its lustre it had put out suns and stars; he, whose life had been a daily sacrifice; he, who died daily for Christ, coming back from the wars, was mistaken by the State for an Egyptian, which had made an uproar long ago, and led out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers. Never mind; Paul owed the State a good deal in this instance. Paul was more indebted to the Romans than to the Jews in this matter. The State will see jus-lice done to us. The State holds the property in which we are now assembled, as certainly as it holds any church that is supposed primarily to belong to it. The State will not allow this property with which we ourselves are associated to be diverted from its proper purpose; to be handed over to people who have no right to it: to whatever may be done inside the walls in the matter of prostituting the property, the State will say, “This must not be done.” So with human life. Thank God for civilized States.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.
Ver. 15. We took up our carriages ] A military term; we trussed up our fardles, made up our packs, our bag and baggage, , instructi et comparati ad quaevis nimirum pericula subeunda, said Beza, being ready prest and prepared to whatsoever hazard.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15. ] The remarkable variety of reading in this word shews that much difficulty has been found in it. The rec. (which may perhaps have arisen from the mixture of (D) with ), would mean, not, ‘ having deposited our (useless) baggage ,’ but, ‘ having discharged our baggage ,’ ‘unpacked the matters necessary for our journey to Jerusalem, from our coffers.’ But . is the better supported reading, and suits the passage better: having packed up , made ourselves ready for the journey. ‘ Carriages ’ in the E. V. is used, as at Jdg 18:21 (where it answers to , LXX-B), for baggage, things carried .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 21:15 . .: A.V., “took up our carriages,” but the latter word is not used now in a passive sense for luggage or impedimenta , as in O.T., Jdg 18:21 , 1Sa 17:22 , Isa 10:18 , cf. Shakes., Tempest , Act 21:1 ; Act 21:3 : “Time goes upright with his carriage” (burden); see also Plumptre’s interesting note on the word. R.V., reading ., renders “we took up our baggage,” margin “made ready our baggage,” , Chrys., Ramsay renders “having equipped horses ,” Xen., Hell. , v., 3, 1, and see St. Paul , p. 302: the journey on foot, some sixty-four miles, was scarcely probable for Paul, especially if, as it would seem from , it was accomplished in two days. Grotius took it as = “sarcinas jumentis imponere,” as if , Xen., Hell. , vii, 2, 18. Hackett and Rendall refer the word to the packing up of the valuable alms which St. Paul was carrying to Jerusalem, but this interpretation seems fanciful, although Hackett supposes that the contribution might have consisted in part of raiment or provisions. Belser still more curiously refers it to getting change in the current money of Palestine for the alms collected in the coin of various lands. .: imperfect, to denote the start on the journey ( cf. Act 8:25 : , R.V.). Both A. and R.V. here render “went up,” but it should be rendered “we set about the journey to Jerusalem,” end of third m. j.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act 21:15-16
15After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem. 16Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to lodge.
Act 21:15 “we got ready” The King James Version has “took up our carriages” (NKJV has “packed”). This is a graphic word used of travel preparation and is found only here in the NT.
“Jerusalem” It was about 64 miles away.
Act 21:16 “Mnason” This was a Jewish Christian from Cyprus (like Barnabas). He would have been one of the Hellenistec Jews, like the Seven of Acts 6. Apparently he had been a believer from the early days; possibly Luke interviewed him for his Gospel while staying in Palestine during Paul’s imprisonment at Caesarea.
CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS INTO Act 21:17 to Act 23:30
A. BRIEF OUTLINE OF Act 21:17 to Act 26:32 (Paul’s imprisonment and defense both in Jerusalem and Caesarea.)
1. Riot and arrest at the Temple Act 21:17-40
2. Paul’s defense before the mob Act 22:1-22
3. The Roman Interrogation Act 22:23-30
4. The Sanhedrin Interrogation Act 23:1-10
5. The conspiracy to murder Paul Act 23:11-35
6. Paul before Felix Act 24:1-23
7. Paul before Felix and Drucilla privately Act 24:24-27
8. Paul before Festus Act 25:1-12
9. Paul before Agrippa II and Bernice Act 25:13 to Act 26:32
B. COMMON ELEMENTS OF PAUL’S DEFENSE
Common ElementsPaul before MobPaul before SanhedrinPaul before FelixPaul before FestusPaul before Agrippa II
1. His Jewish BackgroundAct 22:3 Act 24:14; Act 24:17-18 Act 26:4
2. His Pharisaic training and zealAct 22:3Act 23:6-9Act 24:15; Act 24:21 Act 26:5-8
3. His Persecution of “The Way”Act 22:4-5 Act 26:9-11
4. His Personal testimony of his conversionAct 22:6-16 Act 26:12-16
5. His Call to specific ministry by GodAct 22:17-22 Act 26:17-23
C. COMPARISON OF SADDUCEES AND PHARISEES
SADDUCEESPHARISEES
Origin Name Means Social Status Scriptural Question Theology Maccabean Period “Zadokities”? Priestly Aristocracy Written Law only (especially Genesis through Deuteronomy) Conservative just the opposite of Pharisees, who were accused of being influenced by Zoroastrianism (cf Act 23:8)Maccabean Period “Separated Ones”? Middle Class Laymen All of the Oral & Written Law plus the Prophets and Writing sections of the OT canon Progressive highly developed angeology belief in life after death and resurrection very structured rules for daily life
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
after. Greek. meta. App-104.
took up, &c = having prepared for moving, or packed up. “Carriage” is used in the old sense of that which is carried. Compare 1Sa 17:22. Greek. aposkeuazomai. Only here.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
15. ] The remarkable variety of reading in this word shews that much difficulty has been found in it. The rec. (which may perhaps have arisen from the mixture of (D) with ), would mean, not, having deposited our (useless) baggage,-but, having discharged our baggage, unpacked the matters necessary for our journey to Jerusalem, from our coffers. But . is the better supported reading, and suits the passage better: having packed up, made ourselves ready for the journey. Carriages in the E. V. is used, as at Jdg 18:21 (where it answers to , LXX-B), for baggage, things carried.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 21:15. , having made our preparations) The inferior reading, , would be appropriate to their arrival. But they were then departing, and carrying alms to Jerusalem: ch. Act 24:17. This was the . Hesychius explains as , made ready, equipped with all things necessary.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Binding Together the Church
Act 21:15-26
Mnason was an early disciple. He could remember the first days of the Churchs story. It was good for Paul to have the society and care of this good man during those last troublous days. Notwithstanding all the efforts of the Judaizing elements in the Church, the splendid labors of the Apostle were estimated at their true worth, and he was gladly welcomed by the brethren at Jerusalem. Note how careful he was to attribute all to God. Paul was only the instrument through whom the Almighty wrought for the glory of Jesus, Act 21:19.
The action here described, which was strongly recommended by the leaders of the Church, seems at variance with what Paul so clearly states in his Epistle to the Galatians, Gal 2:3-5; and perhaps it would have been a wiser and stronger policy for him to have remained in quiet obscurity till the feast was over. But we must remember the deep coloring which the proximity of the Temple gave to church life at Jerusalem, and Paul was willing to be guided by men like James, in whose judgment he had full confidence. In addition, he was always willing to yield in cases which did not concern principle. He acquiesced in such matters for the sake of charity, so that he gladly became as a Jew to Jews, that he might save the Jews, 1Co 9:20.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
and went: Act 18:22, Act 25:1, Act 25:6, Act 25:9
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5
Act 21:15. Took up our carriages is all from APOSKEUAZO, which Thayer defines, “To pack up and carry off.” We means Luke, Paul and the others of their company.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 21:15. And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. There is a variety here in the Greek text. The literal translation of the word found in the Received Text () would be, having stowed away our baggage, that is, having stored our heavy packages away in Csarea to await our return. The reading, however, of the older and more trustworthy authorities is , which is best rendered by having packed up our baggage, that is, having placed it upon pack-horses or other beasts of burden with a view of carrying it with us up to Jerusalem. The alms which had been gathered with so much care and pains from many churches probably constituted a portion of this luggage. This precious and important charge, perhaps, was what St. Luke was especially alluding to here. The apparently strange English expression, we took up our carriages, was in common use for the things carried at the time when the Authorised Version was brought out. A similar use of the word carriages we find in the description in the prophets vision of the march of the invader (Sennacherib) toward Jerusalem (Isa 10:28): He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages. See, too, for a similar use of carriages, Jdg 18:21; 1Sa 17:22; Isa 46:1.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Subdivision 2. (Act 21:15-40; Act 22:1-29.)
The Arrest.
The story of how Paul actually falls into the hands of his enemies implicates the Christians in Jerusalem, who by their advice, which he takes, and to satisfy their zeal for the law, puts himself into the very place of chiefest danger, and where the presence of one known to advocate the equal footing of Jew and Gentile would be sure to lash the unconverted Jew to fury. His own compliance, though from pure desire to be to the Jew a Jew, to win the Jew, yet not only puts him into the hands of his enemies, but takes him off the higher ground upon which he habitually walked, and renders his steps less certain. It is a painful history all round.
1. The cause of Paul’s arrest is traced briefly but clearly, and shown to rest with the Jewish Christians. Before we come to this, it will not be amiss to note that it cannot be for nothing that we are told of the place in which the apostle at this time lodges: some meaning must certainly attach to this, whether or not we are able to find the meaning; and some relation there must be also to the narrative with which it is connected. Those also who believe in God’s absolute control of history, and that Scripture everywhere shows this control, can have no difficulty in accepting a meaning flashed out of a name as a true, if hidden, indication of the mind of God. Now Mnason, at whose house Paul lodges at this time, is from a word which means “to sue for, court,” and Paul is certainly here as a suitor, and in a strange place for him: he is in a place not his own. The man in Christ, which he has but lately told others it was all his boast to be (2Co 12:5), is here in the guise of one walking orderly and keeping the law. And it is the suit he has in hand that brings him down to this. He is really lodging with Mnason, the disciple from the beginning, or early disciple, as the term used is. Was it not, in fact, such early disciples, belonging to the time when Christians could be reckoned but as a sect of the Jews, among whom would naturally be found those of whom it was asserted as a universal truth that they were “all zealots for the law”? Mnason himself would be actually included here. Could Paul be ranged among these? No one could imagine it. But he certainly was laboring to make himself acceptable to these. No doubt, the law was to him a thing indifferent, and that it was his acknowledged principle to become to the Jew a Jew, that he might gain the Jew. But would they not have understood by it something more? and does not “walking orderly and keeping the law” imply that he belonged to the house of Mnason, rather than that he was but lodging there? There surely was not a selfish thought in the apostle’s heart. He was walking in the spirit of pure self-sacrifice, to win his Jewish kindred to the Lord; but if he had declared to them his exact position with regard to it -“to those under the law as under the law, not being myself under the law” (1Co 9:20, R.V.), would it have been, could it have been, a means of winning them?
The meeting that is pictured for us as taking place is at James’ house, and with the elders. The apostles seem by this time to have scattered from Jerusalem, and nothing is mentioned with regard to them. Nor indeed does James himself seem to take any prominent part, such as he took at the council to decide the place of Gentile converts with respect to the law. It is more than possible that those most fanatical as to Moses were the most forward, as they had indeed made their voices to be heard first on the former occasion. Paul himself, in the natural progress of divine revelation, had doubtless made advance, while it would be well if under the influence of their alarm at the steadily growing questions involved by the increasing Gentile element in the assemblies, these had not gone backward. There was a strong feeling abroad as to Paul, and a multitude behind who must needs come together. While it was the nation still in unbelief of which Paul was surely thinking, he is faced with this opposition first to be encountered of the converted and Christian Jews. On their side they must needs recognize also the wondrous work of divine grace which God has been working by him among the nations. They will make no doubt that all the reports that have come to them concerning him are but perversions. They are ready to assume that he is really as good a Jew as ever; what they propose to him then is not a concession: it is a justification of himself from calumny merely. Let the Gentiles, as they have conceded, remain Gentiles; he could not have taught the Jews to apostatize from Moses, and not to circumcise their children, nor to walk according to the customs. Let him take then these four men who, being believers like himself, could yet bind themselves with the Nazarite vow, and presenting himself with them in the temple purified, take upon him the expenses necessary for their completion of it, and that publicly, that all might recognize clearly his own relation to the law.
Nothing is proposed to him, as many have thought, about taking upon himself the vow in question. He is merely to purify himself ceremonially, for his appearance in the temple, and it was no new thing that they advised, but what is known to have been done by others very near the time at which all this took place. In fact there was nothing in all that was advised that the apostle could not have done with a good conscience as a part of his privilege to give up his own liberty in toleration of the ignorant infirmity of others; but the question returns, and will return: Was it to be understood in this way? Here among “zealots for the law,” there was indeed ignorance on every side; could he then adapt himself to this, raising no question, leaving them to grow into the truth, as necessarily they would? not forcing any, as in fact he had never forced, -tolerant where God yet was tolerant? Could he not in such a case, without professing anything where it was at present hopeless to bring round this mass of prejudiced opposition to the higher truth, as he saw and followed it, simply go through the ceremonial as they prescribed it to him, and remove out of his way this hindrance to that upon which his heart was set, the proclamation of Christ to his kindred by one whose very advocacy itself was evidence of the truth that he proclaimed, who with his own eyes had seen Christ Jesus the Lord, and had seen men bow before that sacred Name as he had?
Yes, it was indeed vain to expect to quell in any other way the storm that was beginning to manifest itself, though in its first zephyr breathings. He had seen the whirlwinds of Jewish passion aroused in the very midst of the Gentiles, and able to carry with them the Gentiles themselves, otherwise cynical and indifferent. What would it be with such questions started here where the crowd was one, and Christians too were in zealous opposition to whatever seemed to touch the authority of Moses?
But what then did all this do but echo the words which shortly were to come home to him with terrible confirmation as he faced the wild tumult from the castle-stairs, “They will not receive thy testimony concerning Me”? The apostle of the Gentiles must renounce all hope of being God’s messenger to Israel; and he who sought it, spite of the burning, uncalculating love that had brought him there, was necessarily out of the path to which God had called him. The testimony to Christ indeed was to be permitted him, though it could but demonstrate once more the hardness of heart to which they could only be given up. The Lord would and does own His faithful servant in a testimony, to which He would not nevertheless have sent him. Over it all He was; and the history of that which follows becomes, as has been said, the prophecy of long centuries to come, in which such scenes would be in principle re-enacted upon a larger scale. History is averred to repeat itself, and the reason is obvious: for man repeats himself; and poor fallen man is in every generation but the reflection of his father Adam. And where God’s grace has made a difference, still there remains even here a nature which maintains but too much of the likeness. God’s hand has overruled in this case to forecast the future for our instruction; yet even this could not be so impressive and complete if it were not founded upon a similarity of moral elements which in their inter-working present a more than superficial parallel. It is a parallel of causes as well as effects, -fruits and consequences which we can trace to roots and seeds which are in ourselves also, and present grounds of real and profitable self-judgment.
2. The counsel of the elders is acted on by the apostle. He does not, for he could not, declare himself under the law. He treats them all, one would say, as those who were not ripe for disclosures of this nature, which must wait for a fit season to be made. Enough that he can undertake this charge and perform this purification in the same way in which he had circumcised Timothy some time since. The shadows for him had passed in that which had fulfilled them: these with their zeal for the law were in the shadow still, and he must wait upon God for their deliverance. But it is evident, nevertheless, that here he is in no position to help them, but that his present action must encourage them in their own. But his heart presses him on to reach a place in which his voice may be heard with acceptance by his people, and he stoops to the present sacrifice required: to what it will lead on he does not know.
In fact, the plan seems to be working well; the days are almost completed, when that comes of which he has been warned. Some Jews from Asia find him in the temple, having seen him previously in the city with an Ephesian Greek -one of his Gentile “nurselings,” as they might taunt him, from the name. Outside, they had endured him, as it seems, or at least had refrained from an attack; but now this man with his disreputable tastes had dared invade the sanctuary itself; doubtless the same man inside, as he had been out: he had brought his Greek there, no doubt. Instantly there flashes out the wrath of the impetuous, haughty race. The city is moved, and the people run together, and dragging him out, shut to the temple-gates. Paul is in those well-known hands that spare not; and only by the intervention of God the Romans become his saviors from the violence of the raging mob! The plan which appeared so reasonable has ended only in disaster: Paul need take no more trouble to appease the Christian Jews, and is in the very worst possible position to reach the unbelieving ones!
It is significant that Lysias, the chief captain’s name, means “one who looses, or delivers,” and that nothing but the Roman arms in fact accomplished the deliverance Of the believing Jews from the legal system in which they were bound up. It was not to be more than a decade, if so much, until that temple which was its necessary centre and heart should be overthrown, according to our Lord’s prophecy, by the Roman power, and the people scattered over the face of the earth. Their house, long bereft of the divine Presence, but where alone the blood of atonement could be offered for their sins, and with which all their ritual was connected, was taken from them utterly, and the system ended, although unbelief might still grip it with dead hands. In the rejection of the grace which was now going out to the Gentiles, they had rejected that which was their only possible salvation, and judgment in brief time followed; though not before the last word should be uttered by him whom in fact, though not in form, they had delivered to the Gentiles, bidding the true in heart amongst them go forth out of the camp (Heb 13:13). That he should have the last word for them, who had sought them with such earnest desire, was the divine recognition of him whom they had treated with unworthy suspicion, and betrayed, however undesignedly, into the hands of his enemies. “According to the wisdom given to him,” says the apostle of the circumcision, “our beloved brother Paul has written to you” (2Pe 3:15). The voice that had been closed by their own folly while among them now spoke in all the majesty of the truth which could no more be silenced.
3. Yet he is permitted also here one last appeal in behalf of his Lord and Saviour. Won by the demeanor of his prisoner, the chief captain gives him leave to address the mob from whom he has rescued him; and Paul uses his liberty to relate to them the story of his conversion and of the revelation made to him. He reasons with them, reminding them of his past, in which he too had shown himself with as much false zeal for God as they were now showing. As men do commonly, he had followed the belief in which he had been trained, as both the high priest and elders could bear witness of him, persecuting to the death believers in Christ, whether they were men or women, and even hunting for them beyond the borders of the land. Nothing had stopped him but that intervention from heaven itself which had revealed to him Jesus the Nazarene in glory! Those with him had seen also the light, but had not heard the words* that were uttered, which were for himself alone. He had heard the Lord declare Himself the One he persecuted. Blinded by the glory of that light, he was led into Damascus, there to await, as he was bidden, further revelations.
{*This is in effect the difference between the statement here and that in Act 9:7, in which it is said that those with him heard the voice: this is the genitive case, and speaks a partial hearing, -the sound of it but not the utterance, as the accusative in the present instance -the voice at full length.}
Paul narrates more fully than the previous history has done, the visit of Ananias, -“a pious man,” as he remarks, according to the law,” -through whom at once his sight is restored to him, and he is declared to be one chosen by the God of their fathers to know His will and see the *Righteous One, and hear, as a special witness for Him, a voice out of His mouth. Then he is bidden to be baptized, and have his sins washed away, as he thus owns the authority of Jesus. It is a clear example of baptismal remission of sins on entering the kingdom: on God’s part he who truly bows to Christ is absolutely forgiven; but on man’s part, as openly admitted by baptism, this can be but a conditional announcement, available, not for introduction into heaven, but into the company of disciples upon earth. As a kingdom of truth (Joh 18:37) the kingdom means discipleship.
{*It is striking that the apostle does not mention the name of the Lord Jesus but once in this entire address, omitting it even where, as in verse 18, it would most naturally be used. This is due, perhaps, to a desire to avoid further inflaming the Jews. -S.R.}
The crowd listens to this yet, spite of the claim made for the Crucified One: but we are soon to find that this is not acceptance. The apostle comes now to what is pressing upon his spirit, as he looks upon those dark, upturned faces, upon which one can imagine, however restrained as yet, that he sees the storm gathering. What can he presage else, as he repeats, emphasized as they are by recent occurrences, words from the lips of truth itself which had long since warned him, “Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning Me.” How he must have watched them as he related his ineffectual pleading at that time! “Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those that believe in Thee; and when the blood of thy witness* Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting, and keeping the garments of those who slew him!” Was Paul not just the witness now to be believed?
{*It is touching to remember that Paul is here making a definite confession, before the people, many of whom had doubtless witnessed his mad zeal, of his own sinful persecution of Stephen. -S.R.}
But He who spoke had broken off appeal: “Go,” He said: “for I will send thee to the nations afar off.”
4. For what then was he standing there? and what was in his mind as he declared thus to their face their unrepentant stubbornness? Would he break them down by it, even then, that they might show it to be but a thing of the past, and no longer applicable? Or did it announce the hopelessness which had now taken possession of him, the past and present linking themselves together rapidly in his mind, as when facing death they are known often to come up? If so, it was confirmed in a moment as he stood before them plainly avowed, the apostle of the Gentiles.* At once the short quiet is over. All the arrogant pride of an elect people, with which all that should humble man most may in fact inspire him, burst out of that heaving and gesticulating human mass confronting him, crying out madly for his death. The Roman captain, baffled by the foreign tongue that had been made use of, and conceiving by the outcry that there must be some proportionate cause, commands to examine Paul by scourging. It was the custom of the day, and for many a day; but from which the Roman citizen was exempted. Paul, as we know, was that; and his simple question, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” brings the chief captain to inquire, and ends the matter. That the apostle was well within his legal rights, none can, of course, question; but it has been questioned whether it was according to the height of the truth which he proclaimed to plead such rights; but the governments of the earth have always their place with Paul, and are recognized as a ministry of God for good to His people; why not thankfully use them for that, when it needed only a word of information to secure it, and there was not a thought of resistance?** With the man in Christ, as such, the governments of the earth have nought to do; nor is it to forget such a place to realize that as the creatures of God, still upon the earth, we have other relations than those implied by this. All natural relationships lie outside of it; while the peace and power and object of the man in Christ are to go with us everywhere, through all.
{*Both conclusions could be drawn, and both may have been in the apostle’s mind. Certainly it seems clear that the Spirit of God intended us to draw these conclusions. But it looks, too, as if Paul were just entering upon an extended account of his work among the Gentiles, in order to lead up to a defense of his course, and more particularly in explanation of that for which he had been arrested. In his address before Felix he seems to resume the defense just where it was broken off here (Act 24:11-19). -S.R.
**And yet it is for his own protection that Paul speaks. He had not done so at Philippi, having submitted to the cruel indignity of being beaten by Roman magistrates (Act 16:22). He seems only to have spoken of his citizenship on the next day for the purpose of removing any stigma that might attach to the Christian name. The magistrates are compelled tacitly to remove the stigma.
But here Paul claims Roman citizenship, even emphasizing his free birth, as he had already declared he was a citizen of no mean city. In the next chapter he declares himself a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. While this last is far worse than the others, we cannot fail linking them together. The fact remains that the beloved and honored servant of Christ was in a false position all through, and these various acts savor a little of that spirit of compromise to which he had committed himself -S.R.}
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
The apostle having boldly resolved, that come life, or come death, he would be obedient to the call of God by his Spirit, and that nothing should divert him from his intended journey to Jerusalem, sits forward from Cesarea to Jerusalem, accompanied with certain disciples of Cesarea, who brought him to the house of one Mnason, even that of being an old disciple; to be an old man is an honour, but to be an old disciple is a double honour: it has a resemblance of him who is the Ancient of Days. Where antiquity and piety, where agedness and holiness, do concur, it renders a person as like the Divine Majesty as can be expected on this side glory. To be an old disciple is a greater honour than to be a king or emperor.
Observe next, the apostle being come to Jerusalem, is kindly received of the church there: he enters the house of St. James, the Bishop of Jerusalem, where the elders that were present congratulate his arrival, and he relates to them what great things God had wrought by his ministry, and they all gave praise to God for the great and glorious success of the gospel.
Learn hence, That all Christians in general, but the ministers of Christ in special, ought to make a particular declaration of the great and marvellous works which the Lord hath wrought for them, and by them. Thus did St. Paul here; he was very particular, no doubt, in relating the mighty works of God in the conversion of the Gentiles by his ministry from time to time, and from place to place; and all this, not to extol himself, but to exalt God for receiving the Gentiles into the faith and fellowship of the gospel.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Paul Urged To Take Peaceful Actions
The group next travelled on to Jerusalem where they planned to lodge with one of the early disciples, Mnason of Cyprus. They were joyfully greeted by the brethren in Jerusalem. Paul may well have viewed this as an answer to the prayers he had been asking others to pray for him ( Rom 15:30-31 ). At least they did receive the gift of money Paul brought to help the needy saints. The next day, Paul delivered a report to James and all the elders concerning the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through Paul. The group naturally glorified God for the good which had been done ( Act 21:15-20 a).
Then, the assembled group explained to Paul that thousands of Jews had obeyed the gospel of Christ in Jerusalem. They also still tried to adhere strictly to the law of Moses. Someone, or some group, had spread the rumor that Paul taught Jews who lived among the Gentiles that they should forsake Moses’ law, especially by refusing to circumcise their children. Of course, this was false. Paul had actually circumcised Timothy with his own hand ( Act 16:3 ). Yet, a full understanding of the effect of the cross on the ordinances of the law of Moses would ultimately result in the end of circumcision as a religious act ( Act 21:20 b-21).
Naturally, the church would hear of Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem and would assemble. Therefore, James and the others proposed that Paul purify himself along with four men who had taken a vow. The apostle was also urged to pay the expenses involved in their vows. The purpose in these actions was to silence those who were falsely charging Paul. This writer must admit that this event poses certain thorny questions. Did Paul compromise his teachings about the law being a schoolmaster to lead men to Christ by purifying himself and paying for a vow under Moses’ law? Or, did he recognize that these things did not have to do with salvation, so he could do them in an effort to further reach out to the Jews? No certain answer seems apparent. At least James and the elders were consistent in not requiring the Gentiles to follow the law of Moses ( Act 21:22-25 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Act 21:15-16. And after those days Spent at Cesarea, how many there were is not said; we took up our carriages, and went Or, their baggage, which probably went by sea before; containing, doubtless, the alms they were carrying to Jerusalem, Act 24:17. And they had in their company some of the brethren of Cesarea, together with one Mnason, of Cyprus, an old disciple Who lived in Jerusalem, and probably had been converted, either by Christ or the apostles, at the first opening of the gospel there. With him they were to lodge, which they were the more willing to do, as he was a person of established character and reputation in the church; and as, in those days, there were no inns for the accommodation of travellers, as with us.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
15, 16. (15) “And after those days, we packed up our baggage, and went up to Jerusalem. (16) Some of the disciples from Csarea went with us, conducting us to one Mnason, a Cyprian, and an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.” The journey had been accomplished in time for the feast of Pentecost. This is made to appear by enumerating the days spent on the journey from Philippi. Leaving that city immediately after the days of unleavened bread, which was seven days after the Passover, he reached Troas in five days, where he spent seven. Four days were occupied in the passage from Troas to Miletus. Two are sufficient to allow for the stay at Miletus. In three he sailed from Miletus to Patara, which place he left the same day he reached it; and two more days, with favorable weather, would take him to Tyre. There he spent seven days, and three in the journey thence to Csarea. Allowing two days more for the journey from Csarea to Jerusalem, we have enumerated only forty-two of the forty-nine days intervening between the Passover and Pentecost, leaving seven for the stay at the house of Philip. That the feast of Pentecost did transpire immediately after his arrival in Jerusalem, is indicated by the immense multitude of Jews then assembled there, and the presence of some from the province of Asia, who had known Paul in Ephesus. Nothing but the annual feasts brought together in Jerusalem the Jews from distant provinces.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
15, 16. Now they proceed to go up to Jerusalem, taking along with them a certain Mnason, a Cyprian, an old disciple, i. e., one of the first disciples of the Lord Jesus when He began His ministry, with whom we may lodge,
i. e., this man Mnason had the financial ability to furnish a lodging in Jerusalem for Paul, Luke and comrades.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Act 21:15 f. To Jerusalem.We packed up is probably nearer the original than either AV or RV (see mg.). The arrangement of quarters at Jerusalem for the party is interesting; but D and the Philox. Syriac read: when we came to a certain village we found quarters with Mnason. The journey was 65 miles; they would be more than one night on the way.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 15
Carriages; used here in the sense of things to be carried.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
The last stage of Paul’s trip to Jerusalem 21:15-16
Jerusalem was about 65 miles southeast of Caesarea, a long two-day trip. Mnason evidently became a Christian early in the history of the church, perhaps on the day of Pentecost. He was a Hellenistic Jewish Christian being from Cyprus, like Barnabas. As such he would have been more open to entertaining a mixed group of Jewish and Gentile Christians than many Hebrew Jewish Christians in Palestine would have been. Apparently he lived about halfway between Caesarea and Jerusalem.
Paul finally achieved the first phase of his plan to visit Jerusalem and then Rome (Act 19:21). In doing so, he brought one chapter of his ministry to a close and opened another. His return to Jerusalem was an essential part of God’s plan to send Paul to Rome. This plan unfolds in the rest of chapter 21. In all, Paul traveled about 2,700 miles on his third missionary journey (cf. Act 14:28; Act 18:22). [Note: Beitzel, p. 177.]
"Jesus too journeyed to Jerusalem, and during his journey prophesied concerning his impending sufferings; he was arrested and tried, appearing before the Jews and the Romans . . ." [Note: Marshall, The Acts . . ., p. 337. Cf. Rackham, pp. 403-4.]