The Word Made Fresh
1When we left them we sailed on a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and then on to Patara. 2We found a ship bound for Phoenicia, and we boarded it and set sail. 3We passed by Cyprus on our left, and headed to Syria. We landed at Tyre where the ship was to unload its cargo, 4and contacted the disciples there, and stayed for a week. They told Paul that the Spirit had warned that he should not go to Jerusalem. 5At the end of our time there we left and continued our journey. They escorted us to the shore along with their wives and children, and we knelt on the beach and prayed. 6Then we said our farewells and boarded the ship, and they returned to their homes.
7We sailed from Tyre to Ptolemais where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. 8The next day we departed, and went on to Caesarea where we stayed at the home of Philip, one of the seven evangelists. 9He had four virgin daughters who had the gift of prophesy. 10We stayed for several days, and a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. 11He took Paul’s belt, which he used to bind his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says that the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt, and hand him over to the Gentiles.” 12On hearing this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13But Paul said, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I’m ready to be bound and even to die in Jerusalem for name of the Lord Jesus.” 14He couldn’t be dissuaded, so we said, “The Lord’s will be done,” and then kept our silence.
15A few days later we prepared to go up to Jerusalem. 16Some of the followers from Caesarea also came and led us to the home of Mnason of Cyprus who was one of the early disciples, and stayed there.
17When we got to Jerusalem the brothers there warmly welcomed us, 18and the next day we went with Paul to visit James. All the elders were present. 19He greeted them, and then told them step by step the things God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20When they heard that, they praised God, and said to him, “You can see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews; all of them zealous for the law. 21They have been told that you are telling all the Jews who live among the Gentiles that they should forsake Moses, and that they shouldn’t have their children circumcised or obey our customs. 22What should we do, then? They are sure to know that you have come. 23So, do what we say; there are four men among us who are under a vow. 24Join them and go through the purification rituals with them, and pay for their heads being shaved. Then everyone will know that what they have been told about you is false, and that you yourself keep the law. 25As for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter telling them that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from fornication.”
26Then Paul took the men the next day, and having purified himself entered the temple with them. He made it a matter of public knowledge when the days would be complete for the purification, and that a sacrifice would be made for each of them.
27When the seven days were ending, Jews from Asia who had seen Paul in the temple, stirred up the crowd. They grabbed him 28and yelled, “Fellow Israelites, help! This man is speaking to everyone everywhere against us and against our law and against this place. Even worse, he has brought Greeks into the temple and has corrupted this sacred place!” 29They had seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
30The whole city was stirred and people rushed together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple. The doors were shut immediately after them. 31While they threatened to kill him, the tribune of the cohort got word that the whole city was in an uproar, 32and he quickly took soldiers and centurions and rushed to stop them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul. 33The tribune then arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who Paul was and what he had done. 34Some shouted one thing and some said another, and he couldn’t learn the facts because of the uproar, so he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 35When they got to the steps the mob was so violent that the soldiers had to carry Paul. 36The crowd kept following and shouting, “Do away with him!”
37As they were about to bring Paul into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I have a word with you?”
“Do you know Greek?” the tribune asked. 38“Then, you’re not the Egyptian who stirred up a revolt and led four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”
39Paul said, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia. I am a citizen of an important city, and I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”
40The tribune gave his permission, and Paul stood on the steps and motioned for silence. When they were quiet, he addressed them in Aramaic.
Commentary
1-6: They sail on to Tyre by way of Rhodes, Patara, and Cyprus. They find believers there and stay for a week. When the ship is ready to sail again after unloading its cargo they go back on board.
7-14: Stopping at Ptolemais for a day they meet with believers there as well. This is Paul’s farewell tour of the churches in Greece, Macedonia, Asia Minor, and Syria. At Caesarea they stay with Philip, “one of the seven,” referring to the seven Greek Christians who were selected to serve the Greek widows in the distribution of food (see 6:5). Luke is obviously impressed with Philip’s four daughters, though their names are not given, for they have the gift of prophesy, which sort of blows holes in the idea that Paul was against women ever saying anything of import. Agabus we met earlier (11:28) in Jerusalem. He uses Paul’s belt to prophesy what will happen to him in Jerusalem. Paul has already been saying goodbye to everybody anyway, and is not moved by their objection to his going there.
15-16: Some of the Caesareans travel with Paul and his entourage to Jerusalem, and stay at the house of Mnason (whose name appears only here).
17-26: Paul meets with James, the brother of Jesus, who is the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and reports on all his missionary journeys and the acceptance of the gospel by many Gentiles. The report is received joyfully among those present, but James is concerned that many of the Jews who are believers have heard that Paul has been belittling Moses and are not happy about it. He suggests that Paul join a group of four other men who are taking a vow, and pay for having their heads shaved. It was a popular ritual of the time to have one’s head shaved as a sign that one was under a sacred vow — Paul has done this before (see 18:18). The arrangement is that they will remain in the temple compound for seven days, thus keeping their vows in a public place where all can see what they are doing.
27-36: Do you remember those Jews in Ephesus and elsewhere in Asia Minor who kept hounding Paul from town to town? Well, here they are again. They accuse Paul of bringing uncircumcised Gentiles into the temple; an act of defilement of the holy place. It was a trumped-up charge, of course. They had seen Paul with Trophimus (see 20:4) and assumed Trophimus had accompanied Paul into the temple somewhere along the way. A mob forms. Paul is dragged out of the temple and beaten. The uproar attracts the tribune who commands the cohort of Roman soldiers in the city. He rescues Paul by arresting him and taking him to the barracks.
37-40: Paul is bilingual, equally at home in Greek and Aramaic. He impresses the tribune with his excellent Greek and succeeds in getting permission to speak to the crowds, whom he then addresses in Aramaic.
Takeaway
Paul’s life is a study in persistence. Flogged, beaten, left for dead on more than one occasion, opposed at every corner, but upheld by his faith in Jesus. The practice of our faith should be as persistent!