40 And when he had allowed him, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with his hand to the people; and a great silence having been made, he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
And having made a sign to them with his hand to be silent, he related [to them] how the Lord had brought him out of prison; and he said, Report these things to James and to the brethren. And he went out and went to another place.
Now there is in Jerusalem, at the sheepgate, a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
And, when we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [it is] hard for thee to kick against goads.
But when he got upon the stairs it was so that he was borne by the soldiers on account of the violence of the crowd.
And there was also an inscription [written] over him in Greek, and Roman, and Hebrew letters: This is the King of the Jews.
Pilate therefore, having heard these words, led Jesus out and sat down upon [the] judgment-seat, at a place called Pavement, but in Hebrew Gabbatha;
This title therefore many of the Jews read, for the place of the city where Jesus was crucified was near; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, Latin.
But in those days, the disciples multiplying in number, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were overlooked in the daily ministration.
But from among the crowd they put forward Alexander, the Jews pushing him forward. And Alexander, beckoning with his hand, would have made a defence to the people.
They have a king over them, the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew, Abaddon, and in Greek he has [for] name Apollyon.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Acts 21
Commentary on Acts 21 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 21
We have, with a great deal of pleasure, attended the apostle in his travels throughout the Gentile nations to preach the gospel, and have seen a great harvest of souls gathered in to Christ; there we have seen likewise what persecutions he endured; yet still out of them all the Lord presently delivered him, 2 Tim. 3:11. But now we are to attend him to Jerusalem, and there into lasting bonds; the days of his service now seem to be over, and nothing to remain but days of suffering, days of darkness, for they are many. It is a thousand pities that such a workman should be laid aside; yet so it is, and we must not only acquiesce, as his friends then did, saying, "The will of the Lord be done;' but we must believe, and shall find reason to do so, that Paul in the prison, and at the bar, is as truly glorifying God, and serving Christ's interest, as Paul in the pulpit was. In this chapter we have,
Act 21:1-7
We may observe here,
Act 21:8-14
We have here Paul and his company arrived at length at Caesarea, where he designed to make some stay, it being the place where the gospel was first preached to the Gentiles, and the Holy Ghost fell upon them, ch. 10:1, 44. Now here we are told,
Act 21:15-26
In these verses we have,
Act 21:27-40
We have here Paul brought into a captivity which we are not likely to see the end of; for after this he is either hurried from one bar to another, or lies neglected, first in one prison and then in another, and can neither be tried nor bailed. When we see the beginning of a trouble, we know not either how long it will last or how it will issue.