Acts 21:27-36

Context
21:27 When the seven days were almost over,¹ the Jews from the province of Asia² who had seen him in the temple area³ stirred up the whole crowd⁴ and seized⁵ him, 21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel,⁶ help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law,⁷ and this sanctuary!⁸ Furthermore⁹ he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple¹⁰ and made this holy place ritually unclean!”¹¹ 21:29 (For they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him previously, and¹² they assumed Paul had brought him into the inner temple courts.)¹³ 21:30 The whole city was stirred up,¹⁴ and the people rushed together.¹⁵ They seized¹⁶ Paul and dragged him out of the temple courts,¹⁷ and immediately the doors were shut. 21:31 While they were trying¹⁸ to kill him, a report¹⁹ was sent up²⁰ to the commanding officer²¹ of the cohort²² that all Jerusalem was in confusion.²³ 21:32 He²⁴ immediately took²⁵ soldiers and centurions²⁶ and ran down to the crowd.²⁷ When they saw²⁸ the commanding officer²⁹ and the soldiers, they stopped beating³⁰ Paul. 21:33 Then the commanding officer³¹ came up and arrested³² him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains;³³ he³⁴ then asked who he was and what³⁵ he had done. 21:34 But some in the crowd shouted one thing, and others something else,³⁶ and when the commanding officer³⁷ was unable³⁸ to find out the truth³⁹ because of the disturbance,⁴⁰ he ordered Paul⁴¹ to be brought into the barracks.⁴² 21:35 When he came to the steps, Paul⁴³ had to be carried⁴⁴ by the soldiers because of the violence⁴⁵ of the mob, 21:36 for a crowd of people⁴⁶ followed them,⁴⁷ screaming, “Away with him!”

[21:27] ¹tn BDAG 975 s.v. συντελέω 4 has “to come to an end of a duration, come to an end, be over…Ac 21:27.”

[21:27] ²tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[21:27] ³tn Grk “in the temple.” See the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.

[21:27] ⁴tn Or “threw the whole crowd into consternation.” L&N 25.221 has “συνέχεον πάντα τὸν ὄχλον ‘they threw the whole crowd into consternation’ Ac 21:27. It is also possible to render the expression in Ac 21:27 as ‘they stirred up the whole crowd.’”

[21:27] ⁵tn Grk “and laid hands on.”

[21:28] ⁶tn Or “Israelite men,” although this is less natural English. The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it is conceivable that this is a generic usage since “the whole crowd” is mentioned in v. 27, although it can also be argued that these remarks were addressed primarily to the men present, even if women were there.

[21:28] ⁷sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[21:28] ⁸tn Grk “this place.”

[21:28] ⁹tn BDAG 400 s.v. ἔτι 2.b has “ἔ. δὲ καί furthermore…al. ἔ. τε καί…Lk 14:26; Ac 21:28.” This is a continuation of the same sentence in Greek, but due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:28] ¹⁰tn Grk “into the temple.” The specific reference is to the Court of the Sons of Israel (see the note following the term “unclean” at the end of this verse). To avoid giving the modern reader the impression that they entered the temple building itself, the phrase “the inner courts of the temple” has been used in the translation.

[21:28] ¹¹tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”

[21:29] ¹²tn Grk “whom.”

[21:29] ¹³tn On the phrase “inner temple courts” see the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.

[21:30] ¹⁴tn On this term see BDAG 545 s.v. κινέω 2.b.

[21:30] ¹⁵tn Or “the people formed a mob.” BDAG 967 s.v. συνδρομή has “formation of a mob by pers. running together, running together…ἐγένετο σ. τοῦ λαοῦ the people rushed together Ac 21:30.”

[21:30] ¹⁶tn Grk “and seizing.” The participle ἐπιλαβόμενοι (epilabomenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[21:30] ¹⁷tn Grk “out of the temple.” See the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.

[21:31] ¹⁸tn Grk “seeking.”

[21:31] ¹⁹tn Or “information” (originally concerning a crime; BDAG 1050 s.v. φάσις).

[21:31] ²⁰tn Grk “went up”; this verb is used because the report went up to the Antonia Fortress where the Roman garrison was stationed.

[21:31] ²¹tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). In Greek the term χιλίαρχος (ciliarco") literally described the “commander of a thousand,” but it was used as the standard translation for the Latin tribunus militum or tribunus militare, the military tribune who commanded a cohort of 600 men.

[21:31] ²²sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion.

[21:31] ²³tn BDAG 953 s.v. συγχέω has “Pass. w. act.force be in confusion…ὅλη συγχύννεται ᾿Ιερουσαλήμ 21:31.”

[21:32] ²⁴tn Grk “who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, the relative pronoun (“who”) was translated as a pronoun (“he”) and a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[21:32] ²⁵tn Grk “taking…ran down.” The participle κατέδραμεν (katedramen) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:32] ²⁶sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[21:32] ²⁷tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:32] ²⁸tn Grk “seeing.” The participle ἰδόντες (idonte") has been taken temporally.

[21:32] ²⁹tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

[21:32] ³⁰sn The mob stopped beating Paul because they feared the Romans would arrest them for disturbing the peace and for mob violence. They would let the Roman officials take care of the matter from this point on.

[21:33] ³¹tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

[21:33] ³²tn Grk “seized.”

[21:33] ³³tn The two chains would be something like handcuffs (BDAG 48 s.v. ἅλυσις and compare Acts 28:20).

[21:33] ³⁴tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been replaced with a semicolon. “Then” has been supplied after “he” to clarify the logical sequence.

[21:33] ³⁵tn Grk “and what it is”; this has been simplified to “what.”

[21:34] ³⁶tn L&N 33.77 has “ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλο τι ἐπεφώνουν ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ ‘some in the crowd shouted one thing; others, something else’ Ac 21:34.”

[21:34] ³⁷tn Grk “he”; the referent (the commanding officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:34] ³⁸tn This genitive absolute construction has been translated temporally; it could also be taken causally: “and since the commanding officer was unable to find out the truth.”

[21:34] ³⁹tn Or “find out what had happened”; Grk “the certainty” (BDAG 147 s.v. ἀσφαλής 2).

[21:34] ⁴⁰tn Or “clamor,” “uproar” (BDAG 458 s.v. θόρυβος).

[21:34] ⁴¹tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:34] ⁴²tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”

[21:35] ⁴³tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:35] ⁴⁴sn Paul had to be carried. Note how the arrest really ended up protecting Paul. The crowd is portrayed as irrational at this point.

[21:35] ⁴⁵tn This refers to mob violence (BDAG 175 s.v. βία b).

[21:36] ⁴⁶tn Grk “the multitude of people.” While πλῆθος (plhqo") is articular, it has been translated “a crowd” since it was probably a subset of the larger mob that gathered in v. 30.

[21:36] ⁴⁷tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.