| Acts 21 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Acts 15:22–24 in Latin (left column) and Greek (right column) in Codex Laudianus, written about AD 550. | |
| Book | Acts of the Apostles |
| Category | Church history |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 5 |
Acts 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the end of Paul's third missionary journey and his arrival and reception in Jerusalem. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.[1]
Originally written in Koine Greek, this chapter is divided into 40 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
This chapter mentions the following places (in order of appearance):
This "we" section (which includes the narrator) resumes the record with the 'customary wealth of detail: the itemized stages of the voyage, and the redundant detail of ships and cargoes', following Paul's journey from Miletus, stopping in Tyre (verse 3), Ptolemais (verse 7), Caesarea (verse 8) before heading to Jerusalem (verse 15), incorporating 'prophetic warnings' (verses 4, 11) and 'solemn farewell' (verses 6, 14) to 'exemplify and reinforce the tone of Paul's address' in Acts 20:23 while presenting Paul as a "martyr", who 'exhibits a properly philosophical courage in the face of death', whereas his friends 'can only acquiesce in the divine will' (verse 14).[2] It is comparable to the scene of Socrates' death (in Plato's Phaedo, 1170–1) with his last words: 'If so it is pleasing to God, so let it be' (Epict. Diss. 1.29.18-19).[2]
Paul's response echoes Peter's words to Jesus, "Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison, and to death" (Luke 22:33 KJV).[9]
Once in Jerusalem Paul was welcomed warmly ("gladly") by the 'brothers' (verse 17), and the next day he and his company met with James and all the elders of the Jerusalem church (verse 18), during which 'Paul's detailed report on the success of his Gentile mission (verse 19) is greeted with enthusiasm' (verse 20).[2] Luke points out that 'since the decisions of the Apostolic Council' (Acts 15:22–29), 'James and the Jerusalem leadership have no problem with the admission of Gentiles to the church' (verse 25).[2]
Paul follows James's advice which 'unwittingly precipitates the crisis James is trying to avoid'.[14] Over the seven-day period of his purification in the temple (verse 27) Paul attracts the attention of some 'Jews from Asia', who presumably visit Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost, from communities in dispute with Paul during his mission journeys.[14] Other than perceiving Paul's teaching as 'a direct attack on the Jewish people, the law, and the temple', here they charge specifically that 'Paul has brought an uncircumcised Gentile into the holy place' (verse 28), which was a serious charge with the punishment of death (a Jewish religious law that in this respect is 'backed up by all the weight of Roman authority'), as shown in the inscriptions surviving from the temple precinct.[14] Paul would have known this regulation perfectly well, and Luke makes it clear that Paul had not broken this regulation (verse 29), but 'the misapprehension is enough to arouse the whole city' (verse 30).[14] Paul was in real danger of being lynched by the people (verses 31–32, 35–36), if he was not rescued in time by the commander of the Roman garrison from the Antonia fortress, which was built to overlook the temple and 'designed precisely to quell such religious riots' (cf. Josephus, Jewish War 5. 243–5).[14]
This part 'overshadows the final scenes of Paul's career', where 'Paul has been shut out' (literally, verse 30) 'from the religious centre of his own people', and must end his life in the Roman world whose doors he opened for gospel (Acts 16:37).[14] The tribune suspected Paul be to the same figure as the Egyptian rebel leader who caused troubles around the same period of time, but 'Paul effectively undercuts the assumption by addressing the tribune in educated Greek' (verse 37) and claiming to be 'a citizen of no mean city' (verse 39), which 'is sufficient for the moment to establish common ground' for the tribune.[14] However, Paul's Jewishness 'comes to fore' when he addressed the crowd again 'in the Hebrew language' (verse 40) almost certainly means "Aramaic", 'the spoken language of Palestine' at that time.[14]
