Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 21:36
For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.
36. For Away with him ] The same cry which (Luk 23:18) was used by the Jews before Pilate in reference to Jesus.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Away with him! – That is, to death. Compare Luk 23:18.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 36. Away with him.] That is, Kill him; despatch him! for so much this phrase always means in the mouth of a Jewish mob. See Clarke on Lu 23:18, and See Clarke on Joh 19:15.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That is, Kill him; for that was indeed to take him out of their way. The same speech they used against our Saviour, Luk 23:18; Joh 19:15, when they desired his death.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
For the multitude of the people followed after,…. The captain and the soldiers, who had taken away Paul from them, and were carrying him to the castle:
crying, away with him; or “take him away”, that is, by death; or “lift him up”, upon the cross, crucify him, crucify him, as they said concerning Christ.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Followed after (). Imperfect active of , was following. Cheated of their purpose to lynch Paul, they were determined to have his blood.
Crying out (). Construction according to sense, plural masculine participle agreeing with neuter singular substantive (Robertson, Grammar, p. 401).
Away with him ( ). The very words used by the mob to Pilate when they chose Barabbas in preference to Jesus (Lu 23:18, ). He will hear it again from this same crowd (Ac 22:22). It is the present imperative () as in Lu 23:18, but some may have used the urgent aorist active imperative as also in the case of Jesus Joh 19:15, , with added). Luke does not say that this mob demanded crucifixion for Paul. He was learning what it was to share the sufferings of Christ as the sullen roar of the mob’s yells rolled on and on in his ears.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Stairs. Leading from the temple – court to the tower. There were two flights, one to the northern and the other to the western cloister, so that the guard could go different ways among the cloisters in order to watch the people at the Jewish festivals.
So it was [] . Lit., it happened. The verb means, literally, to come together; hence, of a coincidence of events. It is designedly introduced here to express more vividly the fact of the peculiar emergency and the peril of Paul ‘s situation. Things came to such a pass that he had to be carried up the stairs.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For the multitude of the people followed after,” (ekolouthei gar to plethos tou laou) “For the multitude of the people followed,” after Paul, kept stalking him, with murder in their hearts, even as they had treated our Lord, Luk 23:18; Joh 19:15; Mat 10:24-25. They kept following and hurling accusations, repeatedly, even as they had against the Lord,
2) “Crying, away with him.” (krazantes aire auton) “Continually crying aloud, repeatedly, again and again, in a mob spirit, “take him away.” Away with him!” or kill him! and this they continued to do for a long time, even after he had spoken to them, Act 22:22-23. Our Lord forewarned His disciples of such, Mat 5:10-12; Joh 15:20; and Paul affirmed it, 2Ti 3:12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(36) Away with him.We remember that the self-same cry had been raised at the time of the Crucifixion (Luk. 23:18; Joh. 19:15), and that it was used now with the same meaning with which it had been used then.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
36. Away with him The apostle is rejected in the same fierce terms as was his Master by the same Jerusalem more than twenty years ago. (Luke 28:18; Joh 19:15.) Yet in the midst of this wild storm of human passions a Divine result is being worked out. Paul had foreseen that his mission was to go to Jerusalem, and after to see Rome. He has now been to Jerusalem, and he is yet to see Rome; yet not, as he had expected, at his own cost. The iron arm of the Roman power will take him, and at its own expense place him in Rome; but with sufferings and martyrdoms that shall enable him to be a pattern for the Church, to all ages, of heroism for Christ.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.
Ver. 36. Away with him ] Yea, but stay, Paul’s time was in God’s hand, who had told him that after he had been at Jerusalem he must see Rome too. In the mean time it might be some comfort to Paul to hear the same words (and perhaps by the same men) used of him, as had been before of his Master Christ, Away with him, &c. It is sufficient for the servant to be as his Lord. Art thou not glad to fare as Phocion? said he to one that was to suffer with him. a Holy Ignatius took great comfort in this, that though he suffered death for Christ, yet in the day when God should make up his jewels, he should reckon not only from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, but from the blood of Zacharias to the blood of mean Ignatius. We have mentioned before that martyr that rejoiced that she might have her foot in the hole of the stocks in which Mr Philpot had been before her. When Luther thought he should die of an apoplexy, b it comforted him that the apostle John had died of that disease. How much more should it do us, that we “fill up that only which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh,” Col 1:24 , and that suffering together, we shall also reign together!
a . Plut. Apoph.
b A malady, very sudden in its attack, which arrests more or less completely the powers of sense and motion; it is usually caused by an effusion of blood or serum in the brain, and preceded by giddiness, partial loss of muscular power, etc. D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Act 21:36 . , imperfect, “kept following”. : the cry was continuous; it was the same cry which had been raised against another and a greater prisoner Who had been delivered to the Romans as a malefactor, cf. Luk 23:18 , Joh 19:15 , and also Polycarp, Martyr , iii., 19.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
multitude. Greek. plethos. See note on Act 2:6.
Away with him. Greek. airo. See note on Joh 19:15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Act 21:36. , for) The violence and impetuosity of the people is evidenced by their cries.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Act 7:54, Act 22:22, Luk 23:18, Joh 19:15, 1Co 4:13
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6
Act 21:36. Away with him was an outburst of rage prompted by the spirit of murder, for Paul had not even been accused by any legal witness.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
See notes on verse 35