Acts 21:28-30

21:28 shouting, “Men of Israel, ¹  help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, ²  and this sanctuary! ³  Furthermore ⁴  he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple ⁵  and made this holy place ritually unclean!” ⁶  21:29 (For they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him previously, and ⁷  they assumed Paul had brought him into the inner temple courts.) ⁸  21:30 The whole city was stirred up, ⁹  and the people rushed together. ¹⁰  They seized ¹¹  Paul and dragged him out of the temple courts, ¹²  and immediately the doors were shut.

[21:28]  ¹ tn 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]  ² sn The law refers to the law of Moses.

[21:28]  ³ tn Grk “this place.”

[21:28]  ⁴ tn 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]  ⁵ tn 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]  ⁶ tn Or “and has defiled this holy place.”

[21:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “whom.”

[21:29]  ⁸ tn On the phrase “inner temple courts” see the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.

[21:30]  ⁹ tn On this term see BDAG 545 s.v. κινέω 2.b.

[21:30]  ¹⁰ tn 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]  ¹¹ tn 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]  ¹² tn Grk “out of the temple.” See the note on the word “temple” in v. 28.