Acts 21:20

_ And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: _ And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord - `GLORIFIED GOD' IS THE MUCH BETTER ATTESTED READING. THEY WERE CONSTRAINED TO OWN THE HAND OF GOD IN HIS PROCEDURE, AND JUSTIFY HIS PRINCIPLES AND HIS ACTINGS, NOTWITHSTANDING THE STRONG JEWISH COMPLEXION OF THE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM. And said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands, [posai ( G4214) muriades (G3461 )] - 'HOW MANY MYRIADS;' A HYPERBOLICAL EXPRESSION FOR AN IMMENSE NUMBER, IF MEANT OF THE CONVERTS OF JERUSALEM ONLY, THOUGH IF INTENDED FOR THOSE OF JUDEA AT LARGE IT WAS SCARCELY AN EXAGGERATION. Of Jews - `among the Jews' [en ...

19-26 Paul ascribed all his success to God, and to God they gave the praise. God had honoured him more than any of the apostles, yet they did not envy him; but on the contrary, glorified the Lord. They could not do more to encourage Paul to go on cheerfully in his work. James and the elders of the church at Jerusalem, asked Paul to gratify the believing Jews, by some compliance with the ceremonial law. They thought it was prudent in him to conform thus far. It was great weakness to be so fond of the shadows, when the substance was come. The religion Paul preached, tended not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. He preached Christ, the end of the law for righteousness, and repentance and faith, in which we are to make great use of the law. The weakness and evil of the human heart strongly appear, when we consider how many, even of the disciples of Christ, had not due regard to the most...

Verse Acts 21:20. _HOW MANY THOUSANDS_] ποσαι μυριαδες; How many myriads, how many times 10,000. This intimates that there had been a most extraordinary and rapid work even among the Jews; but what is here spoken is not to be confined to the Jews of Jerusalem, but to all that had come from different parts of the land to be present at this pentecost. _THEY ARE ALL ZEALOUS OF THE LAW_] The Jewish economy was not yet destroyed; nor had God as yet signified that the whole of its observances were done away. He continued to tolerate that dispensation, which was to be in a certain measure in force till the destruction of Jerusalem; and from that period it was impossible for them to observe their own ritual. Thus God abolished the Mosaic dispensation, by rendering, in the course of his providence, the observance of it _impossible_....

THEY GLORIFIED THE LORD - They gave praise to the Lord for what he had done. They saw new proofs of his goodness and mercy, and they rendered him thanks for all that had been accomplished. There was no jealousy that it had been done by the instrumentality of Paul. True piety will rejoice in the spread of the gospel, and in the conversion of sinners, by whatever instrumentality it may be effected. THOU SEEST, BROTHER - The language of tenderness in this address, recognizing Paul as a fellow-laborer and fellow-Christian, implies a wish that Paul would do all that could be done to avoid giving offence, and to conciliate the favor of his countrymen. HOW MANY THOUSANDS - The number of converts at this time must have been very great. Twenty-five years before this, 3,000 had been converted at one time...

EXPOSITION ACTS 21:1 _When it came to pass float we were parted from them, and had set sail _for _it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, _A.V.; _Cos _for _Coos_, A.V. and T.R.; _next day _for _day following, _A.V. PARTED FROM THEM (ἀποσπασθέντας)_. _"Non sine desiderio magno" (Bengel). "He shows the violence of the parting by saying, ' Having torn ourselves away '" (Chrysostom). The word is properly applied to those who have been unwillingly torn away from their friends (Schleusner and Kuinoel); "denotes the painful separation wrung from them by necessity" (Meyer) In Acts 20:30 it was used in the active voice of false teachers "drawing away" the disciples, _i.e. _Christians

AND WHEN THEY HEARD IT,.... The narrative of the wonderful spread of the Gospel among the Gentiles, and the numerous conversions of them: THEY GLORIFIED THE LORD; or "God", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions read; as Paul ascribed all to God, so they give the glory of it to him, and in this they were both agreed: AND SAID UNTO HIM; perhaps James in the name of them all, and as their mouth: THOU SEEST, BROTHER; for so he was to James, both as a believer, and a minister of the word, and as an apostle: HOW MANY THOUSANDS OF JEWS THERE ARE WHICH BELIEVE; there were many thousands converted at Jerusalem upon the first preaching of the Gospel, after Christ's ascension; see Acts 2:41 and the number might be much increased since; though it may be, that reference is had not only to the number of th

CHAPTER 21 _ 1. The journey from Miletus to Tyre and Ptolemais (Acts 21:1)._ 2. In Caesarea (Acts 21:8). 3. The Apostle's Arrival in Jerusalem and his visit to the Temple (Acts 21:15). 4. The Uproar in the Temple. Paul taken prisoner (Acts 21:27). Coos, Rhodes and Patara are mentioned. Then they sailed over to Phenicia and landed in Tyre. Here they found disciples. And the Holy Spirit through these disciples warned the Apostle at once that he should not go to Jerusalem. This, indeed, was very solemn. If these disciples had spoken of themselves, if it said that they were in anxiety over Paul's journey to that

ARRIVAL AT JERUSALEM: PAUL'S NAZIRITE VOW. Acts 21:17 gives the general impression on both sides when Paul arrived; in Acts 21:18 he presents himself to James with his retinue, and finds the elders, _i.e._ the governing body of the Church (Acts 11:30), assembled to receive them. His report to them is given as in Acts 14:27; Acts 15:4. Nothing is said of the subvention from the churches of Macedonia and Greece. The elders have already been considering Paul's arrival, the painful impressions which prevail about him and doubtless occasioned the warnings received on the

NO RETREAT (Acts 21:1-16)...

GLORIFIED. were glorifying. Not. single act, but. continual praising. THE LORD. The texts read "God". UNTO. to. SEEST. Greek. _theoreo._ App-133. BROTHER. Compare Acts 9:17 and 2 Peter 3:15. THOUSANDS. Greek. _murias =_ myriads. Fig _. Hyperbole._ App-6. Compare John 3:26; John 12:19. BELIEVE. have believed. App-150. ARE. Emph. Greek. _huparcho._ See note on Luke 9:48. ZEALOUS. Greek. _zelotes._ Properly. noun, meaning zealot, i.e. enthusiast. Occurs he