They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law. They have been informed about you, that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children and not to walk after the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses for them, that they may shave their heads. Then all will know that there is no truth in the things that they have been informed about you, but that you yourself also walk keeping the law. But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written our decision that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from food offered to idols, from blood, from strangled things, and from sexual immorality.”
Then Paul took the men, and the next day purified himself and went with them into the temple, declaring the fulfillment of the days of purification, until the offering was offered for every one of them.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv22–26 22. The multitude must needs come together. The verb…
22. The multitude must needs come together. The verb is a verb neuter, as if they should say, the multitude must of necessity come together. For it had been an absurd thing that an apostle, of such rare report, should not come before the whole multitude of the faithful. For if he had eschewed the light and sight of people, the sinister suspicion might have been increased. Nevertheless, we see how modestly the elders behaved themselves in nourishing concord, when as they prevent the offense of the people in time, saving that they bear too much peradventure with their infirmity, in requiring a vow of Paul. But this moderation must be kept in the Church, that the pastors be in great authority, and yet that they rule not proudly as lords, neither despise the rest of the body. For the distinction of orders, which is the bond of peace, ought not to be any cause of dissension.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv20, 24, 26 In things indifferent (of which sort were not the…
In things indifferent (of which sort were not the traditions of the Pharisees, but the ceremonies of the Law, until such time as Christian liberty was more fully revealed to the Jews) charity willeth us to conform or apply ourselves willingly so far as we may, to our brethren which do not stubbornly, and maliciously, resist the truth, but are not thoroughly instructed especially if the question be of a whole multitude.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv20–26 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the…
20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
Ver. 20. Many thousands] Therefore not to be slighted.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv20–26 Glorified the Lord; acknowledging all in that great work…
Glorified the Lord; acknowledging all in that great work of the conversion of the Gentiles to have been from God; and that Paul that had planted, and Apollos that had watered, were nothing, 1Co 3:6,7.
Thousands of Jews; tens of thousands, as the word does usually signify; a definite for an indefinite number, signifying very many: and considering out of what small beginnings, and by what despicable means, and all within the space of about five and twenty years, this grain of mustard seed had spread itself; and add to this, that they were Jews, that obstinate and prejudiced generation, who are here spoken of, and they were then so many, so wonderfully many, who believed.
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All zealous of the law, of ceremonies, and concerning forbidden meats, &c. For the decree of the apostles, Act 15:29, concerning these things, did only respect such as were converted from paganism to the faith of Christ; and the Jews that were converted before the dispersion by Adrian, the Roman emperor, many years after this time, did not thoroughly understand their freedom from that law, but were under the burden of it, as appears by several ecclesiastical writers.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv21, 26 We had Paul’s report to the church at Jerusalem,…
We had Paul’s report to the church at Jerusalem, of the success which God had given him in his ministry amongst the Gentiles; this is related in the foregoing paragraph of the chapter.
In these verses before us, we have the church’s reply to the apostle’s relation, They glorified God; first, for the great success given to the word of his grace amongst the Jews: Thou seest, brother how many thousands of Jews there are which do believe; the original runs, how many tens of thousands do believe; which intimates the great and wonderful success of the gospel.
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Well might our Saviour compare it to a grain of mustard-seed, seeing it had spread itself far and near in so short a time. If we consider the smallness of its beginning, the despicableness of the instruments, the shortness of the time, the obstinacy and prejudices of the Jews against the gospel, and yet remark the vast number of thousands and tens of thousands of the Jews that did already believe, embrace, and entertain it; we need not wonder that St. Paul, 1Ti 3:16, reckons it as one of the greatest mysteries of godliness, that Jesus Christ was preached to the Gentiles, and believed on in the world. That is, that so many thousands both of Jews and Gentiles were brought to own him, and submit to him as Lord and Saviour.
Observe next, the advice given by the church at Jerusalem to St. Paul, concerning the Jews which did believe in that place. It seems the Jews, though they had received the gospel, yet thought that the ceremonial law must still be observed; therefore, in condescension to their weakness, and to prevent their taking offence, they advise the apostle, not as a thing necessary in itself, but as an expediency in reference to their weakness, and to conform himself to some of the Jewish ceremonies and purifications; for though they were not then needful, yet they were not then unlawful; they might then be used, when the use of them would any ways conduce to the gaining and bringing over the Jews to a love of Christianity. The synagogue was not hastily to be cast out of the church, like the Heathenish superstitions; but to die by degrees, and be decently interred.
Here note, That the law of Moses, as to its moral part, Christ continued as his law: the ceremonial part, as to the use os types and ceremonies, signifying him that was to come, this was abrogated at Christ’s coming; and the political part ceased, when the Jewish polity was dissolved: but the abrogation of the whole was not fully made known at the first, but by degrees; and the exercise of it long tolerated to the Jews.
Observe, lastly, The particular advise which they give the apostle, to go into the temple, and perform the legal ceremony of purification: We have four men which have a vow; them take, and purify thyself, that all may know that thou walkest orderly, and keepest the law. That is, "Seeing we have four men here which have a Nazarite’s vow upon them, the time of which vow is now expired, and they are to shave themselves ceremoniously in the temple; go thou with them, and perform the legal ceremony of purification there, that the people may know that the report of thee is not true; but thou, being a Jew, dost thyself keep the law."
Here we may observe the truth of what St. Paul elsewhere declared, that to the Jews he became as a Jew, that he might gain the Jews, yea, become all things to all men, that he might gain some. A noble pattern for the ministers of the gospel to write after, in yielding, so far as we may without sin or scandal, to the weakness of others, in order to the furtherance of the great ends of our ministry among our people: To the Jews I became as a Jew.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv20–26 And when they heard it,.... The narrative of the…
And when they heard it,.... The narrative of the wonderful spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, and the numerous conversions of them:
they glorified the Lord; or "God", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions read; as Paul ascribed all to God, so they give the glory of it to him, and in this they were both agreed:
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and said unto him; perhaps James in the name of them all, and as their mouth:
thou seest, brother; for so he was to James, both as a believer, and a minister of the word, and as an apostle:
how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; there were many thousands converted at Jerusalem upon the first preaching of the Gospel, after Christ's ascension; see Act 2:41 and the number might be much increased since; though it may be, that reference is had not only to the number of the members of the church at Jerusalem, but to all the believing Jews in Judea, who were now come up to Jerusalem, to keep the feast of Pentecost; since it is in the Greek, "how many myriads there are", and one myriad contains ten thousand:
and they are all zealous of the law; of the law of Moses, of the ceremonial law, as Paul might see by their being at Jerusalem, to keep this feast; for though they believed in Jesus of Nazareth as the true Messiah, yet they had not light enough to see, that he was the sum and substance of all the ceremonies of the law, and that they all ended in him; and therefore were zealous in the observance of them, and could not bear to hear of their abrogation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26 They are all zealous for the law - For…
They are all zealous for the law - For the whole Mosaic dispensation. How astonishing is this! Did none of the apostles, beside St. Paul, know that this dispensation was now abolished? And if they did both know and testify this, how came their hearers not to believe them?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20–26 Verse 20. How many thousands] ποσαι μυριαδες; How many…
Verse 20. How many thousands] ποσαι μυριαδες; How many myriads, how many times 10,000. This intimates that there had been a most extraordinary and rapid work even among the Jews; but what is here spoken is not to be confined to the Jews of Jerusalem, but to all that had come from different parts of the land to be present at this pentecost.
They are all zealous of the law] The Jewish economy was not yet destroyed; nor had God as yet signified that the whole of its observances were done away. He continued to tolerate that dispensation, which was to be in a certain measure in force till the destruction of Jerusalem; and from that period it was impossible for them to observe their own ritual. Thus God abolished the Mosaic dispensation, by rendering, in the course of his providence, the observance of it impossible.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv20, 22, 26 Act 21:20-21. When they heard it, they glorified the…
Act 21:20-21. When they heard it, they glorified the Lord — The Lord Christ, for this wonderful demonstration of his presence and grace, with his servant; and said, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe — Many of these, doubtless, had come from different parts of the country, and some, probably, from remote provinces to Jerusalem, on occasion of this feast. Well might our Lord compare his religion to a grain of mustard-seed, seeing it had spread so extensively in so short a time. Its beginning was small, the instruments employed in propagating it apparently mean, the prejudices and obstinacy of the Jews very great, and yet, in about twenty-eight or thirty years after the ascension, the number of those who had embraced it, and were at one time in the same city, is stated at many thousands, or rather myriads, (μυριαδες,) or ten thousands. And they are all zealous for the law — For the whole Mosaic dispensation, as supposing it to be of perpetual obligation on all the Jewish nation, without excepting those that had embraced Christianity. And they are informed of thee — Through the prejudice and falsehood of thine enemies; that thou teachest all the Jews to forsake Moses, &c. — This, it appears, was a false charge brought against Paul. We have no proof that he taught the Jews to forbear circumcising their children, or to forsake the law of Moses. On the contrary, it seems, knowing that law to be the civil or political law of Judea, he always enjoined them to comply with its institutions, as the means of preserving their political rites and privileges, till Jerusalem should be destroyed, (which he foresaw it would be,) and their commonwealth dissolved; even as he enjoined the converted Gentiles to obey the good laws of the countries where they resided. What he really taught concerning the law of Moses was, that neither Jew nor Gentile could be saved by its institutions, which was the doctrine likewise of James, and of the elders, and of all the more intelligent members of the church at Jerusalem; as is implied in what James says, Act 21:25; as touching the Gentiles which believe, we have concluded that they observe no such thing. For if the Gentiles did not need to observe the law of Moses, obedience thereto could not be necessary to the salvation of any person whatever.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv20–26 They glorified the Lord - They gave praise to…
They glorified the Lord - They gave praise to the Lord for what he had done. They saw new proofs of his goodness and mercy, and they rendered him thanks for all that had been accomplished. There was no jealousy that it had been done by the instrumentality of Paul. True piety will rejoice in the spread of the gospel, and in the conversion of sinners, by whatever instrumentality it may be effected.
Thou seest, brother - The language of tenderness in this address, recognizing Paul as a fellow-laborer and fellow-Christian, implies a wish that Paul would do all that could be done to avoid giving offence, and to conciliate the favor of his countrymen.
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How many thousands - The number of converts at this time must have been very great. Twenty-five years before this, 3,000 had been converted at one time Acts 2, and afterward the number had swelled to some more thousands, Act 4:4. The assertion that there were then “many thousands,” implies that the work so signally begun on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem had not ceased, and that many more had been converted to the Christian faith.
Which believe - Who are Christians. They are spoken of as believers, or as having faith in Christ, in contradistinction from those who rejected him, and whose characteristic trait it was that they were unbelievers.
And they are all zealous of the law - They still observe the Law of Moses. The reference here is to the law respecting circumcision, sacrifices, distinctions of meats and days, festivals, etc. It may seem remarkable that they should still continue to observe those rites, since it was the manifest design of Christianity to abolish them. But we are to remember:
(1) That those rites had been appointed by God, and that they were trained to their observance.
(2) That the apostles conformed to them while they remained at Jerusalem, and did not deem it best to set themselves violently against them, Act 3:1; Luk 24:53.
(3) That the question about their observance had never been agitated at Jerusalem. It was only among the Gentile converts that the question had risen, and there it must arise, for if they were to be observed, they must have been imposed upon them by authority.
(4) The decision of the council Acts 15 related only to the Gentile converts. It did not touch the question whether those rites were to be observed by the Jewish converts.
(5) It was to be presumed that as the Christian religion became better understood - that as its large, free, and catholic nature became more and more developed, the special institutions of Moses would be laid aside of course, without agitation and without tumult. Had the question been agitated at Jerusalem, it would have excited tenfold opposition to Christianity, and would have rent the Christian church into factions, and greatly retarded the advance of the Christian doctrine. We are to remember also:
(6) That, in the arrangement of Divine Providence, the time was drawing near which was to destroy the temple, the city, and the nation, which was to put an end to sacrifices, and effectually to close forever the observance of the Mosaic rites. As this destruction was so near, and as it would be so effectual an argument against the observance of the Mosaic rites, the Great Head of the church did not suffer the question of their obligation to be needlessly agitated among the disciples at Jerusalem.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 23, 24 How many thousands. In the Greek, how many ten…
How many thousands. In the Greek, how many ten thousands. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 they glorified the Lord, &c.--constrained to justify his course,…
they glorified the Lord, &c.--constrained to justify his course, notwithstanding the Jewish complexion of the Christianity of Jerusalem.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 20. Glorified the Lord—With James and the eldership the…
20. Glorified the Lord—With James and the eldership the question is clear and settled. How can they presume to set a repressing foot upon this magnificent outspread of Christianity over the Gentile world?
How many thousands—It was Pentecost, a Christian as well as a Jewish anniversary, and the assembled Christian attendants from Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were doubtless present. The Greek word for thousands is in the original myriads or tens of thousands. Yet its ordinary use is that of an indefinite, but large number. The word is so used in 1Co_4:15; 1Co_14:19. (See note on Luk_12:1.)
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Zealous—Greek, zealots. A word at that day appplied to the most fanatical section of Jews, whose rebellion brought about the destruction of Jerusalem. It is here applied to the ultra Jewish Christians, and, perhaps, somewhat disapprovingly. James and the elders fully recognised Paul. But the less informed masses suspected him, and we are now to have a final proposition for conciliating them.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–26 20. And when they heard it, they glorified the…
20. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord] The oldest MSS. read God. They took up the strain of thanksgiving which had run through all the Apostle’s story.
and said unto him] Their anxiety makes itself apparent at once, and we come here face to face with what must have been one of the greatest difficulties for the early Christians. Before Jerusalem was destroyed there must ever have been at that centre a party zealous for the law, with whom labour among the Gentiles would find small favour.
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Thou seest, brother] The verb is not the ordinary one for to see. It implies that there had been an opportunity for the Apostle to behold some Christian gathering. At this feast the Christians would have as much interest in a commemorative assembly as the Jews.
how many thousands] The Greek is “myriads,” but the word is used indefinitely, like our “thousand,” to signify a large number.
of Jews there are which believe] The most authoritative Greek text is rendered by the Rev. Ver. “there are among the Jews of them which have believed.” These were persons who, as was not unnatural, accepted Christianity as the supplement of Judaism, but made no break with their old faith, of the observances of which their life-long training had made them tenacious. To such men, as Christianity rested on the Old Testament Scripture, there would seem little need to make a rent between their old life and the new.
and they are all zealous of (for) the law] i.e. rigorous maintainers of all the ceremonial of the Mosaic code. The word is the same as the name of the sect, Zealots.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv20–26 (20) They glorified the Lord.—The better MSS. give, “they…
(20) They glorified the Lord.—The better MSS. give, “they glorified God.” The tense implies continued action, and although its meaning would be satisfied by assuming mere ejaculations of wonder and praise, it is, at least, not improbable that there was a more formal thanksgiving.
How many thousands of Jews there are which believe.—Literally, how many myriads—i.e., tens of thousands. The numbers seem large if we think of the population of Jerusalem only, but the crowds that came from all quarters to the Feast of Pentecost (see Note on Act_2:1) would fully justify the statement. The speaker here is obviously St. James, as the president of the assembly. There is no trace of the presence of any of the Apostles.
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They are all zealous of the law.—Better, the word being a substantive and not an adjective, zealots for the law. The term was an almost technical one for the most rigid class of Pharisees. (See Note on Simon the Canaanite, Mat_10:4.) So St. Paul describes himself as in this sense a “zealot” (Act_22:3; Gal_1:14).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv20–26 They, when they heard it for when they heard…
They, when they heard it for when they heard it, they, A.V.; God for the Lord, A.V. and T.R.; they said for said, A.V.; there are among the Jews of them which have believed for of Jews there are which believe, A.V. and T.R.; for the Law for of the Law, A.V. They glorified God. There is not the slightest symptom on the part of James and the elders of unfriendliness towards St. Paul, or jealousy or opposition to his work among the Gentiles. (comp. Gal_2:7-9) The appellation brother is another indication of friendly feeling. Thousands (Greek muriadev, tens of thousands). These need not be deemed to be all Jerusalem Jews; if applied to the Church at Jerusalem only, such a word would be probably a gross exaggeration; but there were great numbers of Jews of the dispersion assembled at Jerusalem for Pentecost probably all the Christian Jews of Judaea, and many from Syria, Galatia, Pontus, and the various countries enumerated in Act_2:9-11. So that there might be several myriads of converted Jews altogether. All zealous for the Law. This is a remarkable testimony to the unanimity of the Christian Jews in their attachment to the Law of Moses, and throws light upon the Epistle to the Galatians and many other passages in St. Paul"s Epistles. It explains the great difficulty experienced in the early Church in dealing with converts from Judaism. Zealous (zhlwtai). So the fierce sect of Zealots were called at the time of the Jewish wars (see Josephus, "Bell. Jud:," 4:6:1, and elsewhere).
Vers. 20-39. The pastor and elders of the Church not infallible.
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There may be considered to be some uncertainty as to the exact merits of the remarkable case which the history reproduces in this passage, but without rendering any verdict, pronouncing any opinion, or even offering any suggestion. In the room that is accordingly allowed for option, it is believed that the following positions, as they are certainly maintainable in themselves, are also to be impressed on us by the present history:
I THE ADVICE OF THE BEST-INTENTIONED POLICY, ON THE LIPS OF THE LEADERS OF A CHRISTIAN CHURCH, IS DISTANT FROM THE ADVICE OF CLEAR CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLE AND TRUTH, AS THE POLES ARE DISTANT FROM ONE ANOTHER. There was not a little in the exact tone of those who urged on Paul a certain course (ver. 20) and in the exact time which they used for pressing their suit, which invests it with suspicion, and which may very possibly have done so with Paul.
II THE PRESSURE OF THE ADVICE OF MANY, AND THOSE MANY THE KNOWN LEADERS OF THE CHURCH, WILL NOT ABSOLVE THE INDIVIDUAL CONSCIENCE OR JUDGMENT. It is quite possible that the present was an occasion which Paul would have described as one of those when he would make himself all things to all men. It is also quite possible that this was a right occasion of observing that practice. And lastly, for that very reason the more, it may seem quite possible, that Paul"s judgment was in no degree hoodwinked, nor his conscience eclipsed, when he yielded to the advice urged upon him. As no whisper of censure seems breathed upon him, the providence of God, nay, the Spirit himself, may have been his Guide now, to the end that facts should teach those who were responsible for the advice, while Paul would feel, ay, genuinely feel, that the compensation that was given to him for his sufferings consisted in the audience of Jew and Gentile of all sorts, of Roman governors and officers and soldiers, which he had in consequence the opportunity of addressing (ver. 39). If Paul were mistaken and at fault now, he reaps his punishment, though still he rescues some advantage out of all for Christ and the gospel. And he is taught that not even the kindness of his heart and willingness "to be persuaded" by the skilful representations in affection"s hour of others, can be a substitute for the individual, steady, regulated judgment and conscience of the Christian. If he were not mistaken, the same lesson is taught, though by a very different route. He himself held and acted upon the conviction that his individual judgment, under the guidance of the Divine Spirit, should have its way that judgment going to this that, though himself suffered, the leaders of the Church and "many thousands of zealots of the Law" should be effectually taught.
III THE DIVINE PURPOSE AND WORK THROUGH ALL ERROR OF HUMAN JUDGMENT, THROUGH ALL UNCERTAINTY OF FIDELITY, EVEN IN HUMAN CONSCIENCES, TRIUMPH AND VINDICATE THEIR OWN RIGHTS.
1. The intended short way out of an apprehended difficulty and danger, suggested with coaxing tones and words (ver. 20, "Thou seest, brother "), proves a very long and painful way. Who can tell what must have been the excited apprehensions of James and the elders as the riot went on, nor stopped in a sense, till Paul set off for Rome itself?
2. For Paul, whose is both the active work and the keen suffering, "the beginning of the end" dates from this very Church meeting at Jerusalem. The road is opened to Rome and to Caesar and to "the palace and all other places" left for Paul"s ministry. And the goal of his career comes into sight for the racer of keen vision as well as of keen energy. So the gospel gains fresh wings, and that grace of God which lovingly overrules where perhaps it was not allowed to rule, is made known to vaster numbers, and amongst them to some whom it might not have reached in any other way. B.
Vers. 20-25. The perils of over-caution.
For the details of these verses, reference must be made to the exegetical portion of this Commentary. We should fully understand:
1. The intense enmity of the Judaizing party against St. Paul.
2. The opportunity of increasing that enmity found in the fact that many of St. Paul"s enemies from Asia and Europe were present in Jerusalem at this time, attending the feast.
3. The difficulty of the Christian leaders, who had not openly broken with rabbinical Mosaism, and consequently found St. Paul"s presence in the city a source of extreme anxiety. They could not openly condemn him; and indeed this they were not prepared to do. They could not openly approve him, for this would be sure to rouse dissension, and it would certainly put St. Paul"s life in peril.
4. The spirit and temper of the apostle himself, who was rather bold than cautious, and had on several important occasions, (as e.g, Act_19:30, Act_19:31) to be actually held back from courses of action that were hardly prudent. The leaders of the Church at Jerusalem tried to master the difficulties of the position by compromise, which is usually a sign of conscious weakness, and often rather makes than settles the difficulty with which it deals. "The heads of the Church in Jerusalem dreaded nothing but an uproar, if St. Paul"s presence in the city should become known. In order, therefore, to appease the multitude, they proposed to the apostle to observe the sacred usages publicly in the temple, with four men who were paying their vows, and to present an offering for himself a proposal which he willingly adopted. But although the concession of the apostles to the weak brethren proceeded from a good intention, yet it turned out disastrously. The furious enemies of St. Paul were "only the more exasperated by it" (Olshausen). It was a case of "over-caution," and it well illustrates the weakness and the peril that usually lie in over-cautious schemes.
I THE PLACE FOR COMPROMISE. Which is the practical expression of extreme caution, and the constant resort of cautious dispositions. It is useful:
1. When the matter in dispute cannot have a full and final adjustment.
2. When such serious interests are at stake that it is important not to keep open the dispute.
3. When both parties have a measure of right on their sides, and the claim of each must be moderated to admit the right of the others.
4. When the intense feeling of the disputants prevents the acceptance of any positive settlement. These may be illustrated both from worldly and from Christian spheres.
II THE PERILS OF COMPROMISE. They arise from the fact that, as a rule,
1. Compromise settles nothing, but really leaves the old difficulty to find a new expression.
2. It keeps in relation parties who would be much better apart.
3. It gives those who are in the wrong, an impression of weakness in those who suggest the compromise, and so encourages them in the wrong and leads them to take advantage of the weakness; as is illustrated in the case before us of the Judaizing party.
III THE PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE OF TAKING A FIRM STAND UPON WHAT IS RIGHT. Nothing disarms opposition as this does, and nothing settles disputes as a fine and wise decision. If the apostolic council had simply and firmly accepted St. Paul, given their public testimony to their confidence in him, and explained the relation in which the Gentile Churches and their teacher stood to the Jewish Churches and their teachers, mistakes would have been corrected, opposition would have been checked, and St. Paul"s enemies would have failed to make a party. All the calamities that followed, though foreordained of God, are, on their human side, traceable to the over-caution and weak compromise of the Jerusalem apostles. Learn the value of prudence and caution in the practical concerns of life, but learn also the perils of the exaggeration of caution, and the adoption of compromises when we have before us questions of right and wrong. Right is right, and we must stand to it whatever may be the peril. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We…
Act_21:23-26
Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow upon them.
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Paul and the Nazarite vow
Hardly had Pauls glowing words of passionate love to Christ--his plea for a flee pulpit, as it were, a common Christianity--ceased when James cuts in severely and dryly enough with what he has heard. And then--as every word fell like an ice drop on Pauls fervent spirit, and he was wondering whether humiliation could go any further--he had to listen to the crowning proposal, that he should take four beggars who had a vow, pay for them himself, and see to their head shaving, etc., before all the people! Paul, who had taught throughout Asia that such usages were foolish or indifferent, was to go nigh eating his own words to allay the fears and gratify the narrow minds of those who called themselves Christs disciples! The burning question, in fact, in Jerusalem, seemed to be not the love of Christ, or the conversion of the heathen, or fellowship between Christian teachers, but how to keep in with the orthodox laity, how stand firm by the old organisation. As Paul listened and read acutely, as he so well could, between the lines, a bitter, terrible, choking feeling must have come over him. There he stood, having toiled for years to get them money, amongst other things, for their poor, yearning above all for their sympathy, if only a friendly word, for him and his converts--first fruits of the new world he was conquering for them--and they met him with a stare and a rebuke. He was wretchedly disappointed, almost personally insulted; his offerings slighted--his sentiments ignored--his opinions and arguments misunderstood or disregarded. Last indignity; he was to be heavily fined, to be forced to eat his own words, and undergo openly a test of suspicion in the temple. It was an awful moment, the fate of his Gentile Churches seemed hanging in the balance. But the grandeur of Pauls mission prevailed. At all costs this rupture between him and the apostles must not take place--and of all places in the world not at Jerusalem; the party of the Church must be saved somehow--the aegis of those who had seen the Lord must be spread over the Gentiles. Paul rose to the occasion. Statesman, diplomatist, man of ideas, man of action, man of heart; where shall we find such qualities combined? They met in Paul. Concession and consistency for one moment seemed at war within him. But with a flash of true spiritual genius, he harmonised them, by appeal to a principle higher than either, Charity. That Divine formula enabled him now, not for the first and not for the last time, to stoop to conquer. Paul accepts. He appears in the temple; he is at charges with four beggars; he keeps the law of Moses. (H. R. Haweis, M. A.)
Paul among the Nazarites
1. Not as a slave of human ordinances, but in the might of evangelical liberty, which has power over all things that promote the kingdom of God (1Co_6:12).
2. Not as a dissembler before the people, but in the ministry of brotherly love, which bears the infirmities of the weak (Rom_15:1).
3. Not as a fugitive from the Cross, but in the power of apostolic obedience, which knows to deny itself from love to the Lord (Luk_9:23). (K. Gerok.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v26 Act_21:26. Paul took the men, and the next day…
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act_21:26. Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself, might read took the men the next day, and having purified himself, not by performing the ordinary ablutions required before entering the temple (Howson), but by entering with them upon the same course of dedication. To signify (better, declaring) the accomplishment of the days of purification.—I.e., either that the days were fulfilled and the time come for the four men to be released from their vows (Wieseler, Conybeare and Howson); or, better, announcing his intention to fulfil along with them the (seven) days which by the law must precede the termination of the vow (Alford, Hackett, Plumptre, Spence, Holtzmann and others).
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Act_21:27. Seven days was the ordinary period for the most solemn purifications (Exo_29:37; Lev_12:2; Lev_13:6; Num_12:14; Num_19:14). Of these seven days Paul observed only two, or at least four, as appears from Act_24:11 (see “Critical Remarks”), which shows the interval between Paul’s arrival in Jerusalem and his speech before Felix was only twelve days. When his arrest took place the seven days were “almost ended”—i.e., they were not completed when he was apprehended. In the temple meant most likely in the court of the women, afterwards called this holy place (Act_21:28), into which no foreigner was permitted to enter under pain of death. “This court was four square, and had a wall about it peculiar to itself.” There was also a stone partition all round, three cubits high, whose construction was very elegant, and upon which stood pillars at equal distances from one another, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek and some in Roman letters, that “No foreigner should go within that sanctuary” (Jos., Wars, V. Act_21:2, VI. ii. 4). The correctness of this statement, which was long disputed, has been recently confirmed by Monsieur Clermont Ganneau’s discovery of one of those prohibitory notices, with an inscription in Greek, of which the following is a translation: No foreigner to proceed within the partition wall and enclosure around the sanctuary; whoever is caught in the same will on that account be liable to incur death” (Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill, p. 134).
Act_21:30. They took, or laid hold on Paul.—Baur and Holtzmann regard it as improbable that these Jews, among whom doubtless were many zealots for the Messiah’s faith and for the law, should have seized Paul when engaged in the performance of a pious work of the law, and accordingly reject this story as unhistorical. But why should fanatical Jews always have acted in logically and religiously consistent fashion, when enlightened and sober-minded Christians do not? The doors were most probably the gates which led into the women’s court.
Act_21:31. The chief captain of the band.—The chiliarch, or military tribune of the cohort, whose name was Claudius Lysias (Act_23:26), resided in the Castle of Antonia, a gigantic fortress on a rock or hill, about eighty-five feet high, at the north-west angle of the temple area, which communicated with its northern and western porticoes, “and had flights of stairs descending into both, by which the garrison could at any time enter the court of the temple and prevent tumults” (Robinson, Biblical Researches, I., p. 432. Compare Josephus, Wars, V. Act_21:8).
Act_21:33. Two chains.—I.e., bound by a chain to a soldier on each side (compare Act_12:6).
Act_21:34. Into the castle.—More correctly, into the camp or barracks attached to the tower.
Act_21:36. Away with him.—Compare Act_22:22; Luk_23:18; Joh_19:15.
Act_21:37. Canst thou speak Greek?—Lit., dost thou know Greek? Ἑλληνιστὶ γινώσκεις. Compare Græce nescire in Cicero (Pro. Flac., 4) and τοὺς Συριστὶ ἐπισταμένους in Xenophon (Cyrop., VII. Act_21:31).
Act_21:38. That (or, the) Egyptian.—Josephus (Wars, II., xiii, 5) mentions an Egyptian, a false prophet, who, having deluded thirty thousand men, led them round about from the Wilderness to the Mount of Olives with the view of breaking into Jerusalem from that place, and states that Felix, having fallen upon them, either destroyed or captured alive the greater portion of his followers, and dispersed the rest, while he himself escaped with a small number. In another account (Ant., XX. viii. 6) the Jewish historian says that this Egyptian went to Jerusalem and advised the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives, which they did in vast crowds, he promising to show them the walls of Jerusalem fall down at his command; and that Felix sallied out against them with a great company of horsemen and footmen, slew four hundred, and made two hundred prisoners, but did not capture the Egyptian, who escaped. Tholuck (Glaubwürdigkeit, p. 169) has shown how the variations in Josephus’s story may be harmonised; but even if they could not, they would only prove that Josephus, while substantially confirming Luke’s account, was not so accurate a historian as Paul’s friend.
Act_21:39. Of no mean city.—Josephus (Ant., I. vi. 1) calls Tarsus the most important city in all Cilicia. “Many of the coins of Tarsus bear the title of Autonomous and Metropolis” (Hackett).
Act_21:40. That Lysias should have given Paul licence or leave to address the people need occasion no surprise. Paul had satisfied Lysias that he was no wild revolutionary, but a peaceful Cilician; and besides, Lysias may have seen in Paul’s countenance from the first what convinced him his prisoner was no ordinary man. The Hebrew tongue, or dialect, was the Syro-Chaldaic or Aramean, as in Joh_5:2; Joh_19:13, the mother tongue of the Jews in Judæa at that time.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_21:26-40
Arrested in the Temple; or, Long Looked for, Come at Last
I. The Apostle’s arrest—
1. Where it occurred. In the temple—i.e., the temple court, into which Paul had entered, and in one of the cloisters of which he most likely stayed during the period of his purification. Perhaps at the moment he was in the court of the women (see below).
2. When it took place. On the last of the seven days (say some) when the necessary offerings were being presented for himself and the four Nazarites, but better as the seven days were running on and nearing completion, so that the offerings were not presented.
3. By whom it was instigated. By certain Jews from Asia who had been acquainted with his missionary activity in Asia Minor, and more especially in Ephesus, who had observed him in the city accompanied by Trophimus, an Ephesian, and who now lighted upon him in the temple court. Throughout the whole of his career the Jews (unbelieving) had been his persistent, unsleeping, and remorseless antagonists. The method they adopted in this instance to raise a tumult against him was effective.
(1) They laid hands on him, as if he had been an evil doer, a criminal who they purposed to hand over to the tender mercies of the law.
(2) They raised a shout against him in the temple court, which inflamed the crowd there present, and spreading abroad throughout the city, threw it into confusion, much as Ephesus had been thrown into a turmoil by the cry of Demetrius (Act_19:29), and attracted an excited mob around the temple gates.
(3) They pointed him out as the man—the notorious fellow—who went about everywhere teaching all (men and women) against the people—i.e., of Israel—an appeal to their patriotism; against the law—i.e., of Moses—an appeal to their orthodoxy; and against this place—i.e., the temple, the holy dwelling-place of Jehovah—an appeal to their religion.
(4) They accused him, though falsely, of sacrilege—i.e., of having violated the sanctity of the holy place by bringing (as they erroneously supposed) Trophimus, the Ephesian, into not the court of the Gentiles, but the court of the women, into which none but Jews could pass under penalty of death (see “Critical Remarks”).
4. How it was effected.
(1) Tumultuously. The crowd rushed into the temple and seized the apostle’s person.
(2) Violently. They dragged him forcibly outside the sacred precincts in order that these might not be stained with his blood (compare 2Ch_23:14), which they clearly intended to shed. More than likely also this was the reason why the temple gates were so expeditiously shut behind the retreating mob, in case it should return and carry out its murderous project in the holy place.
II. The Apostle’s rescue.—
1. Opportune. The mode selected for the carrying out of their deadly intention was the slow one of beating (Act_21:32), which allowed time for the information to spread and be carried to Claudius Lysias (Act_23:26), the chief captain of the band, or military tribune (chiliarch) of the cohort, in the Tower of Antonia near by, whose business it was to quell all riots which might occur (and these were frequent) in connection with the Jewish festivals (see Jos., Ant., XX. Act_21:3; and Wars, V. Act_21:8). The moment, therefore, Lysias understood the situation, he ran down upon the crowd with a company of soldiers and centurions, the sight of which at once checked their blood-thirsty fury and caused them to leave off beating the apostle. Magistrates were appointed to be terrors to evil-doers (Rom_13:4), and crowds, it is well known, have a salutary fear of the ruler’s sword.
2. Incomplete. Rescued from the hands of the Jews and from the jaws of death, he was yet not set at liberty. The chiliarch commanded him (wrongfully, as he afterwards learnt, Act_22:25), to be bound as a prisoner, with two chains, and fetched into the castle. The reason for this procedure was the impossibility of learning anything correctly from the infuriated rabble about either who the apostle was or what he had done. Those who composed that rabble could only follow after the retreating soldiers as they bore off their prisoner, and cry, “Away with him,” as their fathers had thirty years before shouted in front of Pilate’s prætorium (Joh_19:15). Yea, so violent did they become, that Paul might have been snatched from the soldier’s hands and lynched on the spot, had not the soldiers, to whom he was bound, lifted him into their arms or upon their shoulders and borne him up the castle stairs.
III. The Apostle’s request.—
1. The preliminary conversation. When the top of the stairs had been reached, just before passing into the castle, the apostle, addressing the chief captain in Greek, solicited permission to “say something” to him. Surprised at hearing Greek on the lips of (as he supposed) a foreign Jew whom he did not expect to find a person of culture, he first asked the apostle if he knew Greek, and on receiving a reply in the affirmative, inquired further if he (the apostle) was not then (as the captain had concluded before he heard the apostle speak Greek) that Egyptian impostor—spoken of by Josephus Ant., XX. vii. 6; Wars, II. xiii. 5; see “Critical Remarks”)—who shortly before had stirred up to sedition and led out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers, literally, the four thousand men of the Sicarii or Assassins. To this, of course, Paul responded, that he was not that renowned brigand chief, but a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, and a citizen of no mean city. Honourable men are never afraid to give account of themselves and their doings.
2. The solicited permission. To address the people—which showed Paul had not parted with his courage, and was still as ready to fight with wild beasts as he had been at Ephesus (Act_19:30; 1Co_15:32). “The request was a bold one,” write Conybeare and Howson, “and we are almost surprised that Lysias should have granted it; but there seems to have been something in St. Paul’s aspect and manner which from the first gained an influence over the mind of the Roman officer.” In another sense, the request was a comparatively harmless one, and on its being granted Paul at once moved to the stair front, and looking into the faces of the demoniac crowd, beckoned to them with his chained hand, signalling that he wished to speak. “What nobler spectacle,” exclaims Chrysostom, “than that of Paul at this moment! There he stands, bound with two chains, ready to make his defence unto the people. The Roman commander sits by, to enforce order by his presence. An enraged populace look up to him from below. Yet, in the midst of so many dangers, how self-possessed is he, how tranquil!” (quoted by Hackett). As if startled by the heroism of the man, the angry crowd forget to shout. A great silence ensues which deepens into an intenser stillness as the accents of their old Hebrew tongue fall upon their ear.
Learn.—
1. How unexpectedly evil may befall one. Paul, doubtless, never dreamt of being apprehended in the temple.
2. How difficult it is to quench the passion of hate in unrenewed hearts. The Jews dogged Paul’s steps like sleuth-hounds.
3. How easily a misconception may arise. Paul’s enemies had seen him and Trophimus in the city, and at once jumped to the conclusion that Paul had fetched his Greek friend into the Holy Place.
4. How quickly a lie can spread. In a few moments the slander was in possession of the town.
5. How nearly one may come to being killed and yet be rescued. A few moments longer before Lysias arrived and Paul might have been a dead man.
6. How strangely a good man may be talked of behind his back. The governor clearly had heard it said that Paul was a sort of bandit chief.
7. How bravely a Christian can comfort himself in face of peril. Not many men could have faced the mob as Paul did from the castle stairs.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act_21:26. Paul among the Nazarites.
I. Not as a slave of human ordinances, but in the might of evangelical liberty, which has power over all things that promote the kingdom of God (1Co_6:12).
II. Not as a dissembler before the people, but in the ministry of brotherly love, which bears the infirmities of the weak (Rom_15:1).
III. Not as a fugitive from the cross, but in the power of apostolic obedience, which knows to deny itself from love to the Lord (Luk_9:23).
Act_21:27. Unrealised Aims; or, man proposes but God disposes.
I. Many plans that promise well turn out ill.—The recommendation of James and the elders, and the compliance of Paul were Intended to ensure Paul’s safety, but they actually led to his arrest.
II. When a plan turns out badly it cannot be safely argued that the plan was not good.—We agree with the view which thinks James’s counsel, and Paul’s practice were not, in this instance the best—we cannot pronounce them sinful; but even had they been the wisest they might have failed.
II. The success of a plan does not necessarily demonstrate that the plan was good.—Nothing more common than for the counsels of the wicked to prosper on earth and in time, though they will eventually be overthrown.
Act_21:27-38. The Troubles of a Good Man. Paul.
I. Doubly slandered.—
1. Charged with apostasy in religion (Act_21:28).
2. Blamed for committing sacrilege (Act_21:28).
II. Nearly murdered.—
1. Violently dragged from the court of the women (Act_21:30).
2. Mercilessly beaten by the angry mob (Act_21:32).
III. Innocently bound.—
1. Like a dangerous criminal (Act_21:33).
2. Though no one could tell for what (Act_21:34).
IV. Ignorantly suspected.—
1. Of being an Egyptian when he was a Jew.
2. Of being a leader of assassins when he was only a peaceful citizen.
3. Of having stirred up sedition when in truth he was a preacher of peace (Act_21:38-39).
Act_21:38. “Art not thou that Egyptian?” “A remarkable proof of the erroneous and absurd thoughts which the blind world entertains of the children and servants of God. They regard us as idiots, madmen, seducers, enemies of mankind, and under this form they hate us. Thus was Christ also numbered among transgressors” (Gerok in Lange).
“Art not thou that Egyptian?” or, misconceptions entertained by the world concerning the followers of Christ, who are often slandered as
I. Disturbers of social order.—Paul was accused of being a brigand chief. Had often been reviled as a revolutionary. On this ground the early Christians were persecuted under the Roman emperors. Usual to accuse them as evil doers (see 1Pe_2:12). In the days of the Stuart ascendency in our own country Nonconformists were treated as enemies of the commonwealth, because they worshipped God according to their own consciences. To-day Christians are looked upon by many, if not as open malefactors, at least as impracticable persons, who, by crying out against social evils, such as drink, gambling, licentiousness, trouble society.
II. Self-interested deceivers.—Lysias obviously thought Paul was one of this class. Christianity has often been represented as a huge imposture, a gigantic system of deception, invented by priests for their self-interest. This accusation, which was common last century, is not unknown in this. Believers are often maligned as persons who have adopted a profession of religion simply as a cloak for their covetousness. No doubt such abuses have existed and such individuals have been found in the Church; but Christianity is no invention of deceivers.
III. Hypocritical pretenders.—Giving themselves out to be “saints” when they are as wicked as other people. No doubt of some professing Christians this is true; but it is ignorant calumny to represent all as such. Still Christians should study to approve their sincerity by a holy walk and conversation.
IV. Impracticable visionaries.—Doubtless the captain considered Paul such when he fancied the apostle was that Egyptian who had been aiming at upsetting the supremacy of Rome by means of a handful of Sicarii. So the world pronounces Christians visionaries, fools, fanatics, idiots, dreamers, and such like when they talk of,
1. Applying the principles of Christianity to ordinary life;
2. Bringing the whole world round to the acceptance of Christianity; and,
3. Living for the other world rather than for this.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv20–21 20. “And hearing, they continued to glorify God and…
NON-ESSENTIALITY OF ECCLESIASTICAL ORDINANCES
20. “And hearing, they continued to glorify God and said to him, You see, brother, how many myriads there are among the Jews of those having believed, and all these are zealots of the law.” From this verse we are assured that the Christian Jews punctiliously kept the law of Moses, circumcising their children, offering animal sacrifices and performing many other ordinances peculiar to the Levitical ritual. It took the Roman armies, A. D. 73, who captured the city and destroyed the temple, a million of people, selling a million more into slavery and thus bringing an end to the Jewish dispensation, to stop the Christian Jews from their pertinacious observance of the Mosaic institution, thus precipitating them, pursuant to the warning of Jesus, to fly away from Jerusalem in order to save their lives. Then they gave up the Mosaic ritual, which they had carried fifteen hundred years, while the apostles and elders decreed perfect relief to all the Gentiles from all the rites and ceremonies of the Mosiac law, requiring of them nothing but entire sanctification, experimental and practical; they at the same time allowed the Jews perfect liberty to keep the law of Moses. Now remember that these Jews and Gentiles were precisely equal and perfectly free in the very same organizations of the gospel church, the one to observe the vast and operose ritual of Moses, a hundred times more burdensome than Baptist immersion and foot-washing, at the same time extending to the Gentiles perfect spiritual freedom to omit all ecclesiastical ceremonies and go ahead with a purely spiritual worship. Why was this? The unity of God’s people focalizes in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which brings all into one body (1Co 12:13). When you have this, you are saved to the uttermost. Hence it makes no difference whether you practice any, few or many church rites. It is perfectly consistent for the sanctified Quaker, utterly unencumbered by carnal ordinances, and the trine- immersion, foot-washing, kissing, sanctified Dunker to worship together in very same church in perfect harmony and Christian fellowship. The division of God’s people over non-essentials is a trick of the devil to get their eye off the Savior so he can side-track them into hell. If Jesus does not baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire, your religion will all prove a failure and break down this side of heaven. When you have the Savior’s baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire, then you enjoy perfect freedom of conscience relative to church rites and ceremonies, as here you see the very same apostles who laid no obstruction on the observance of the vast and burdensome rites and ceremonies of Judaism on the part of the Christian Jews, magnanimously relieved the Gentiles of the entire curriculum, only requiring of them the spirituality and the essence, which is likewise indispensable to Jew and Gentile.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv20–26 See notes on verse 18
See notes on verse 18
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv23, 24, 26 Probably according to Num 6:1-7. Cf. Col 2:14-17.
vow
Probably according to Num 6:1-7. Cf. Col 2:14-17.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv20, 26 A case of Jewish prejudice:
A case of Jewish prejudice:
v. 20. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the Law;
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v. 21. and they are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
v. 22. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together; for they will hear that thou art come.
v. 23. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
v. 24. them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them that they may shave their heads; and all may know that those things whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing, but that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest the Law.
v. 25. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
The rank and file of the congregation in Jerusalem was still strongly impregnated with Jewish prejudices, and even the elders, including James, had not reached that clearness of distinction between Christian liberty and Jewish customs which was necessary for a full appreciation of the New Testament blessings. The conference of elders responded to Paul’s report with praises to God, expressing their full accord with his manner of working. but incidentally they had a little matter which they believed of sufficient importance to bring to his attention. As they put it, Paul himself must have seen, especially in Jerusalem, that there were thousands of Jews that were believers, that had truly accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah. At the same time, however, they had remained and were ardent upholders of the Law, believing that the keeping of all the precepts and traditions was necessary and even essential. These Jews had heard the report, had received the information concerning Paul, that he taught apostasy from Moses, not in general, but to all the Jews that lived in the Diaspora, among the Gentiles abroad. This general charge was specified in two instances, namely, that Paul had taught them not to practice the rite of circumcision, and that he similarly prevailed upon them not to walk after the customs, the observances which had become obligatory by tradition and usage. As a matter of fact, these charges were not true. Paul had not taught the Jews not to circumcise their children, but had himself circumcised Timothy, a half-Jew, on account of the latter’s probable work among Jews. Paul had not taught them to forsake the customs of their fathers; for he himself, about a year before, had written to the Corinthians that he had been a Jew to the Jews, 1Co 9:20-21. He never lost sight of the distinction between that which we are at liberty to do for the sake of others, and that which we are under Obligation to do in order to obey God. And this distinction had been brought out in his efforts to convince the Jews that the ancient rites were no longer binding on their consciences. The elders of Jerusalem may have been more or less aware of all this, but they were afraid that the Jewish Christians, who had not yet reached the state of knowledge for the proper understanding of the difference between the Old and the New Testament, would continue in their offense. In casting around for something that might be done under the circumstances, they felt that a meeting of the entire congregation would become absolutely necessary, for the news of Paul’s arrival had spread throughout the city by this time. To avoid any unpleasantness, therefore, they made a suggestion to Paul as to what he might do to remove all false impressions and to meet the weak brethren at least halfway. They had in the congregation four men that were under a Nazirite vow, Num 6:2-12, which lay upon them as an unfulfilled obligation. "This necessitated their purification, which required seven days for its completion, the shaving of their heads at the altar, the sacrifice of a sin-offering and a burnt offering for each of them, and the loss of the time passed under the vow. Paul’s part with them was, first, to be at charges for them, meaning that he paid part of or all the expenses of the victims which they had to offer; and secondly, to go into the Temple and notify the priests when their days of purification would be fulfilled, so that a priest might be prepared to sacrifice their offerings. The last they could not do themselves, because the Law shut them out of the Jewish court during their uncleanness; but as Paul was unclean, not from contact with a dead body, but from some of the many other causes mentioned in the Law, he could purify himself in a single day by washing his clothes and bathing his flesh and remaining unclean until evening, Lev 15:1-30. " This act of Paul would give them all to understand that the matters which had been reported concerning him were without foundation, and that he so comported himself as to keep the Law. And so far as the Gentile Christians were concerned, the elders of Jerusalem reassured Paul, by reminding him of their resolution passed in his presence, that they were not obliged to keep the Jewish ceremonial law, but that they should beware of eating the flesh of idol sacrifices, and blood, and the meat of strangled animals, and that they must avoid fornication, sexual vice. From this description it appears that the members of the congregation in Jerusalem were still ardent upholders of the Mosaic ceremonial law, that they continued to circumcise their children, that they regarded the purifications of the church law, though they in some cases involved the offering of sacrifices, as binding even upon the Christians of Jewish extraction, but that they imposed none of these observances upon the Gentile brethren, believing the resolution of the former conference to cover their case completely. As long as mere weakness or lack of spiritual knowledge may be assumed, such behavior may be tolerated, but as soon as matters that are in themselves indifferent are urged as laws of God, the liberty of the Gospel must be insisted upon.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 22, 25 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
The elders in Jerusalem begin their response to Paul.
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General Information:
Here the word "they" refers to James and the elders.
General Information:
The word "him" refers to Paul.
General Information:
The word "They" refers to Jewish believers who wanted all believing Jews to keep the Jewish laws and customs.
General Information:
The words "them" and "their" refers to Jewish people who believe in Christ.
brother
Here "brother" means "fellow believer."
They have been told about you ... not to follow the old customs
Apparently here there are some Jews that are distorting what Paul is teaching. He does not discourage the Jews from obeying the Law of Moses. His message is that circumcision and the other customs are not necessary for Jesus to save them. You can make explicit that the leaders of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem knew that Paul was teaching God's true message. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
They have been told
This can be stated in active form. AT: "People have told the Jewish believers" (See: Active or Passive)
to abandon Moses
Here "Moses" stands for the law of Moses. AT: "to stop obeying the laws that Moses gave us" (See: Metonymy)
not to follow the old customs
To obey the old customs is spoken of as if the customs were leading them and the people follow behind. AT: "not to obey the old customs" or "not to practice the old customs" (See: Metaphor)
the old customs
"the customs that Jews normally do"
translationWords
praise
God
brother
believe
Jew
law
Gentile
Moses
circumcise
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 26 21:20-25 The Jerusalem church leaders urged Paul to strengthen…
21:20-25 The Jerusalem church leaders urged Paul to strengthen his credibility by demonstrating that he was not teaching Jews to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. At the same time, no attempt was made to force Jewish rules on Gentile converts—those terms had been set previously (15:22-29) and were simply to be honored.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.