Acts 21:28-36

Context
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 Furthermore⁴ he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple⁵ and made this holy place ritually unclean!”⁶ 21:29 (For they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him previously, and⁷ 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 seized¹¹ Paul and dragged him out of the temple courts,¹² and immediately the doors were shut. 21:31 While they were trying¹³ to kill him, a report¹⁴ was sent up¹⁵ to the commanding officer¹⁶ of the cohort¹⁷ that all Jerusalem was in confusion.¹⁸ 21:32 He¹⁹ immediately took²⁰ soldiers and centurions²¹ and ran down to the crowd.²² When they saw²³ the commanding officer²⁴ and the soldiers, they stopped beating²⁵ Paul. 21:33 Then the commanding officer²⁶ came up and arrested²⁷ him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains;²⁸ he²⁹ then asked who he was and what³⁰ he had done. 21:34 But some in the crowd shouted one thing, and others something else,³¹ and when the commanding officer³² was unable³³ to find out the truth³⁴ because of the disturbance,³⁵ he ordered Paul³⁶ to be brought into the barracks.³⁷ 21:35 When he came to the steps, Paul³⁸ had to be carried³⁹ by the soldiers because of the violence⁴⁰ of the mob, 21:36 for a crowd of people⁴¹ followed them,⁴² screaming, “Away with him!”

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

[21:28] ³tn Grk “this place.”

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

[21:29] ⁷tn Grk “whom.”

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

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

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

[21:31] ¹³tn Grk “seeking.”

[21:31] ¹⁴tn Or “information” (originally concerning a crime; BDAG 1050 s.v. φάσις).

[21:31] ¹⁵tn Grk “went up”; this verb is used because the report went up to the Antonia Fortress where the Roman garrison was stationed.

[21:31] ¹⁶tn 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] ¹⁷sn A cohort was a Roman military unit of about 600 soldiers, one-tenth of a legion.

[21:31] ¹⁸tn BDAG 953 s.v. συγχέω has “Pass. w. act.force be in confusion…ὅλη συγχύννεται ᾿Ιερουσαλήμ 21:31.”

[21:32] ¹⁹tn 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] ²⁰tn Grk “taking…ran down.” The participle κατέδραμεν (katedramen) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

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

[21:32] ²²tn Grk “to them”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:32] ²³tn Grk “seeing.” The participle ἰδόντες (idonte") has been taken temporally.

[21:32] ²⁴tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

[21:32] ²⁵sn 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] ²⁶tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.

[21:33] ²⁷tn Grk “seized.”

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

[21:33] ²⁹tn 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] ³⁰tn Grk “and what it is”; this has been simplified to “what.”

[21:34] ³¹tn 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] ³²tn Grk “he”; the referent (the commanding officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:34] ³³tn 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] ³⁴tn Or “find out what had happened”; Grk “the certainty” (BDAG 147 s.v. ἀσφαλής 2).

[21:34] ³⁵tn Or “clamor,” “uproar” (BDAG 458 s.v. θόρυβος).

[21:34] ³⁶tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:34] ³⁷tn 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] ³⁸tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:35] ³⁹sn 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] ⁴⁰tn This refers to mob violence (BDAG 175 s.v. βία b).

[21:36] ⁴¹tn 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] ⁴²tn 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.