Acts 21

Acts 21:2

The times of this ignorance. The times when there was no revelation in to those in darkness. God winked at. “God overlooked” (Revised Version). Now commandeth. The gospel is world embracing. (1) All men, (2) everywhere, are command to repent.

Acts 21:3

Because he hath appointed a day. This call to repentance is urged because God “hath appointed a day”, the day of coming judgment, when the world will be judged through Christ. Of this the resurrection of Christ is an assurance. Raised him from the dead. If Jesus was raised, all men will be raised; hence, the assurance of a general judgment after death.

Acts 21:4

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead. The Epicureans were materialists like the Sadducees (see PNT Matthew 3:7). They no doubt mocked at the idea of a resurrection. The Stoics probably wished to hear again of this matter. There was a division of sentiment.

Acts 21:5

So Paul departed. He regarded the field less fruitful than others.

Acts 21:6

Certain men . . . believed. His labors were not without results. One of the judges of the court of the Areopagus, the judges which were chosen from the noblest men of the city, Dionysius, was converted, along with others. A church does not seem to have been founded at this time; at least it is not elsewhere mentioned in the New Testament. Even as late as the time of Constantine the Great, Athens was a rallying point of the dying Paganism.

Acts 21:8

Paul at Corinth SUMMARY OF ACTS 18: Paul Leaves Athens for Corinth. Works with Aquila and Priscilla. Preaches in the Synagogue. Departs to the Gentiles. Many Hear, Believe, and Are Baptized. The Lord Encourages Paul in a Vision. The Seizure of Paul by the Jews. Before the Judgment Seat of Gallio. The Accusers Driven Away. Paul Sails to Ephesus, Antioch and Jerusalem. Starts on His Third Missionary Tour. Apollos Taught by Aquila and Priscilla, and Preaches in Corinth. Came to Corinth. The distance between Athens and Corinth is forty-five miles by sea. The Acropolis of one city can be plainly discerned from the other. From the most remote times Corinth had been an important commercial center. Situated on the narrow isthmus between Greece proper and the Pelopennesus, it had harbors on both the Aegean and Adriatic seas. The old city was destroyed by the Roman Consul Mummius, but it was rebuilt by Julius Caesar, made a Roman “colony”, (see PNT Acts 16:12), and was, at the time of Paul’s visit, a city of great splendor. Of its morals one fact will speak; one temple, that of Venus Pandemos, had a thousand courtesans attached.

Acts 21:9

Found a certain Jew named Aquila. We have no account of the conversion of these two Christians, so famous in connection with Paul’s labors. The fact that he describes Aquila as a Jew seems to imply that he was not yet a Christian. I am of the opinion that they were converted at Corinth. For other notices of them, see Acts 18:18,26 Romans 16:3,4 1 Corinthians 16:19 2 Timothy 4:19. Born in Pontus. A great province southeast of the Euxine Sea. Lately come from Italy. They had been driven out of Italy because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. By a decree of the Emperor Claudius banishing all Jews from Rome. The Roman historian Suetonius, who lived about fifty years later, alludes to this decree, but states that the Jews made disturbances at the instigation of one “Chrestus”, a form the ancients often used for spelling “Christus”; a mistake of the historian, showing that they did not comprehend the spiritual nature of Christ’s reign.

Acts 21:10

Because he was of the same occupation, he abode with them. This is the first mention of the handicraft by which so often during his toilsome life Paul earned his daily bread. Every Jewish boy was taught a trade, and Paul no doubt learned his in Tarsus. Compare Acts 20:34 1 Thessalonians 2:9 2 Thessalonians 3:8 1 Corinthians 4:12 2 Corinthians 11:9.

Acts 21:11

He reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath. While toiling six days in the week in this strange city, on the Sabbath, according to his custom, he preached.

Acts 21:12

When Silas and Timotheus were come. When Paul left Berea for Athens they remained (Acts 17:14), but he sent for them to come to him. 1 Thessalonians 3:1 seems to imply that Timothy was sent back from Athens to Thessalonica. Some think, however, that they did not join him at all until he was in Corinth. Was pressed in spirit. The Revised Version reads, “Was constrained by the word”, that is, by the gospel message. When they came, probably freed from the need of daily labor, and encouraged by their presence, he began the work in earnest.

Acts 21:13

When they . . . blasphemed. Against Jesus Christ. The opposition became malignant. He shook [his] raiment. See PNT Matthew 10:14. Also see Acts 13:51. Your blood [be] upon your own heads. “I have done my duty. The responsibility is now yours”.

Acts 21:14

He departed thence. Left the synagogue and taught no more there, but secured a place of teaching in the house of Justus, near by. Justus. The Revised Version reads “Titus Justus”. Some have supposed this man to be the Titus to whom the epistle was afterwards written.

Acts 21:15

Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue. Though the synagogue opposed, its president became a Christian with all his family. Paul baptized him with his own hands (1 Corinthians 1:14). Many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. This describes the gospel process of conversion. The word is preached, faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), confession (Romans 10:10) and baptism (Romans 6:3,4) follow. This is the invariable order in the New Testament.

Acts 21:16

The spake the Lord to Paul. In some way he manifested his presence and cheered him in his work, by the assurance of great success. We know that the result was not only a flourishing church in Corinth, to which two epistles were written, but churches through Achaia, the province of which Corinth was the capital (2 Corinthians 1:1).

Acts 21:18

He continued [there] a year and six months. While here, besides his other labors, he wrote the two epistles to the Thessalonians, the first of that grand series of letters which form so precious a feature of the New Testament.

Acts 21:19

When Gallio was the deputy of Achaia. “Proconsul” in the Revised Version, as it should be. The province of Achaia had been transferred by Claudius to the government of the senate, and the governors of senatorial provinces were proconsuls, which is the meaning of the Greek term “anthupatos”, rendered “deputy”. Gallio was the brother of Seneca, the philosopher and tutor of Nero. He is often mentioned in the literature of that day as a cultivated, polished man of the world. Seneca speaks of his brother’s residence in Achaia. The Jews made insurrection. Rose up against Paul, no doubt enraged at the success of his work. His sleepless enemies always found some occasion to stir up strife. Brought him to the judgment seat. The court of Gallio.

Acts 21:20

This [fellow] persuadeth . . . contrary to the law. Their charge was that Paul sought to persuade men to worship contrary to the Roman law; that is, he preached a new and unlawful religion. Besides the state religion, Rome recognized various others, among them Judaism. These Jews attempted to show that Paul’s gospel was not Judaism.

Acts 21:21

Gallio said unto the Jews. Without suffering Paul to reply, he at once rebuked the Jews, who were evidently not in his favor. His rebuke shows that he ignorantly regarded Christianity as a kind of Judaism, and thought that the enmity of the Jews was due to the rivalry of sects. To him it was a question of “words and names, and of the Jewish law”.

Acts 21:23

He drove them from the judgment seat. Ordered his lictors to clear the court of the Jews.

Acts 21:24

The Greeks took Sosthenes. He had evidently succeeded Crispus as chief ruler of the synagogue (Acts 18:8), and was probably foremost among the accusers. The populace laid violent hands on him. Gallio cared for none of those things. The great Romans were usually utterly indifferent to religion at this period. Nor did Gallio care to see some violence inflicted on the leading Jews.

Acts 21:25

[After this]. After the affair before Gallio. Paul tarried [there]. How long Paul remained, whether weeks or months, is not stated. The object is to show that this occurrence did not cause his departure. Sailed thence into Syria. Antioch, the mother Gentile church from whence he started, was his destination. Having shorn [his] head . . . for he had a vow. We know that the Jews were wont to make personal vows. For example, see Genesis 28:20 Leviticus 27:2 1 Samuel 1:11 2 Samuel 15:7. Paul complied with this custom of his race for some reason not explained. Why he took the vow, for how long, and what the shaving of the head had to do with it, are matters of conjecture. Nazarite vows required the shaving of the head in Jerusalem, and the hair cut off was offered in the temple (Numbers 6:18). This could not have been a Nazarite vow. It is probable that he complied with some Jewish custom to aid him in reaching his own people with the gospel. In Cenchrea. Cenchrea was the eastern harbor of Corinth, and received the commerce of Asia. A church was planted here (Romans 16:1).

Acts 21:26

Came to Ephesus. The great commercial metropolis of Asia Minor. Left them there. Priscilla and Aquila. Entered into the synagogue. The Jews seem to have given him a favorable hearing, but he could not tarry.

Acts 21:28

Keep this feast. There are reasons for believing the feast to be Pentecost. I will return to you. He kept the promise. See Acts 19:1.

Acts 21:29

Landed at Caesarea. He sailed from Ephesus to Caesarea, and went up from thence, about seventy miles, to Jerusalem. Greeted the church. We have no other account of the incidents of the visit. Went down to Antioch. The headquarters of Gentile missions, the terminus of his second missionary tour. It had occupied at least three years.

Acts 21:30

Spent some time [there]. He did not remain a great while, but departed to visit the churches he had planted on his last tour in Galatia and Phrygia, This is the beginning of his third missionary tour.

Acts 21:31

A certain Jew named Apollos. A native of Alexandria, a city where there were tens of thousands of Jews. He was an eloquent rabbi, learned in the Scriptures, a disciple of John the Baptist, but had not yet learned fully the gospel of Christ.

Acts 21:32

He spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord. That is, all that John understood. He believed that Jesus was the one coming after John, but he had learned only the gospel of the Lord’s first commission (Matthew 10:5,6). He was ignorant of the gospel of the second commission (Matthew 28:19).

Acts 21:33

Expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. In my opinion Apollos’ position was about that of the disciples of the Lord before the Great Commission was given. He had the gospel in part, but needed to be shown the way of the Lord “more perfectly”. Aquila and Priscilla supplied this needed, and equipped him for gospel work.

Acts 21:34

When he was disposed to pass into Achaia. Greece, the province of which Corinth was the Roman capital. The brethren wrote. This is the first instance of church letters. This was written to show the brethren at Corinth that the bearer was worthy of their confidence. They no doubt testified to his soundness in the faith and Christian character. Paul alludes to such letters in 2 Corinthians 3:1. Helped them much. The believers at Corinth. Apollos was God’s instrument to help them (see 1 Corinthians 3:5,6). Through grace. Through the Divine favor.

Acts 21:35

For he mightily convinced the Jews. That he was a man of God of great power is shown by Paul’s allusions to him. See 1 Corinthians 1:12 3:4-6.

Acts 21:37

Paul at Ephesus SUMMARY OF ACTS 19: Twelve of John’s Disciples Baptized. Paul Teaches in the School of Tyrannus. God’s Presence with Paul in Power. Sceva and His Sons. The Books of Magic Burned. Timothy and Erastus Sent into Macedonia. The Tumult Raised by Demetrius and the Craftsmen. The Wise Advice of the City Recorder. Paul having passed through the upper coasts. The mountain highlands of the interior of Asia Minor. See Acts 18:23. Came to Ephesus. Ephesus, on the coast, was near sea level. Finding certain disciples. These disciples had only been baptized with John’s baptism (Acts 19:3), and had but an imperfect knowledge of Christ. Their case presents some difficulties hard to explain, unless we had more of the facts. They had evidently been baptized by some of John’s disciples, possibly in Asia, after the Great Commission was given, and were no doubt Jews. Some think that they were baptized by Apollos before he was “instructed in the way of the Lord . . . more perfectly” (Acts 18:25,26).

Acts 21:38

Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? This question is asked in order to lead their way to a knowledge of their imperfect obedience. We have not so much as heard whteher there be any Holy Ghost. The Revised Version states: “Nay, we did not so much as heard whether the Holy Ghost was [given]”. They had heard of the Holy Spirit; John always spoke of Christ as one who should bestow it (John 1:33), but they had heard nothing of the scenes of Pentecost and the descent of the Spirit. It must not be forgotten that they lived nearly a thousand miles from Jerusalem, in an age when each part of the world knew little of what transpired elsewhere.

Acts 21:39

Unto what then were ye baptized? This question implies that the possession of the Holy Spirit is closely connected with a right baptism. Compare Acts 2:38. The only case in which the Spirit was received before baptism was that of Cornelius. For the reasons of this exception to the rule, see notes on Acts 10:44-47. The fact that these disciples “know nothing of the Holy Spirit being given” (Acts 19:2), showed that there was something wrong about their baptism. Unto John’s baptism. While John’s baptism differed from that commanded in Christ’s commission (Matthew 28:19), the apostles, the one hundred and twenty (Acts 1:15), and the “five hundred brethren” (1 Corinthians 15:6), as far as we know, received no other. We are to infer, therefore, that it was valid until Christ’s baptism took its place. Why, then, were these disciples re-baptized? The only explanation is that their baptism took place after John’s baptism had been superseded by that of Christ, or after the Savior had been crucified.

Acts 21:40

John verily baptized. His baptism was (1) of Repentance; (2) of Faith in a coming Savior. Christian baptism is (1) of Repentance; (2) of Faith in a Savior that has come, died, risen, and been exalted to the heavens; (3) is into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; (4) enjoys not only the promise of remission of sins, but of the gift of the Holy Spirit.