The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts 21:27-40 comments: Paul confronts an angry mob

 

Acts 21:27 ¶  And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, 28  Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. 29  (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus  an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) 30  And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. 31  And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32  Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. 33  Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done. 34  And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. 35  And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. 36  For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him. 37  And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek? 38  Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? 39  But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. 40  And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

 

Paul has had a lot of trouble with the Jews of Asia. He finally had had enough of them and said previously;

 

Acts 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

 

The accusation spoken of in the last passage is brought out here. The Asiatic Jews believe that Paul has brought Gentiles into the temple. This confirms to me that the four men involved were Jewish Christians. Paul is about to be killed by an angry, Jewish mob.

 

The chief captain of the Roman band, a leader who not only has soldiers but centurions, officers over a hundred men, under him. So, he must have been important. They rescue Paul. When Paul as the obvious cause of this riot is bound with chains he is asked if he is a rebel they must have been warned about, an Egyptian who led a band of murderers from the Roman point of view, clearly rebels, in the desert.

 

Paul declares that he is from Tarsus in Cilicia, the ancient name for the southeastern region of Asia Minor (today’s Turkey). Tarsus was the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia and an important intellectual center producing the philosopher who taught Rome’s first emperor, the emperor Augustus. His name was interestingly, Athenodorus Cananites. Athenodorus himself was a student of a famous Stoic philosopher.

 

No mean city means that the city of Paul’s birth was not mean or common, was not insignificant. It was an important place. Notice how mean is used elsewhere for common or something having nothing special about it.

 

Proverbs 22:29  Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

 

Acts was written in Greek. Paul is speaking in Hebrew. So what is to come will be translated from Hebrew, to Greek, to English. Biblical scholar and textual critic, H.C. Hoskier, noted in his two volume 1910 work, Concerning the Genesis of the Versions of the New Testament, that early New Testament texts show signs of being translated back and forth between languages which presents even another problem for the Fundamentalist who worships the unseen, knowable original autographs rather than accepting what God has given us.