Acts 21:29

(For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian; [TON _ (G3588_ ) Efesion ( G2180)] - it should be 'the Ephesian;' for he had been mentioned before as accompanying the apostle from Ephesus ( Acts 20:4): Whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) It is a good exclamation of Lechler here, 'How narrowly are the servants of God watched, and what great reason have they to take heed to their steps! The world gives heed to those we walk with, and judges preachers by their company.'...

27-40 In the temple, where Paul should have been protected as in a place of safety, he was violently set upon. They falsely charged him with ill doctrine and ill practice against the Mosaic ceremonies. It is no new thing for those who mean honestly and act regularly, to have things laid to their charge which they know not and never thought of. It is common for the wise and good to have that charged against them by malicious people, with which they thought to have obliged them. God often makes those a protection to his people, who have no affection to them, but only have compassion for sufferers, and regard to the public peace. And here see what false, mistaken notions of good people and good ministers, many run away with. But God seasonably interposes for the safety of his servants, from wicked and unreasonable men; and gives them opportunities to speak for themselves, to plead for the R...

IN THE CITY - In Jerusalem. As he was with Paul, it was inferred that he would attend him everywhere. TROPHIMUS - He had accompanied Paul on his way from Ephesus, Acts 20:4. WHOM THEY SUPPOSED ... - This is a most striking illustration of the manner in which accusations are often brought against others. They had seen him with Paul in the city; they inferred, therefore, that he had been with him in the temple. They did not even pretend that they had seen him in the temple; but the inference was enough to inflame the angry and excitable passions of the multitude. So in the accusations which people now often make of others. They see one thing, they infer another; they could testify to one thing, but they conclude that another thing will also be true, and that other thing they charge on

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

FOR THEY HAD SEEN BEFORE WITH HIM IN THE CITY,.... Not of Ephesus, but of Jerusalem: TROPHIMUS AN EPHESIAN; the same that is mentioned in Acts 20:4 whom these Jews of Asia, and who very probably were inhabitants of Ephesus, knew very well to be a Gentile: WHOM THEY SUPPOSED PAUL HAD BROUGHT INTO THE TEMPLE; for seeing him walk with the apostle very familiarly through the streets of Jerusalem, they concluded from thence, that he took him with him into the temple, which was a very rash and ill grounded conclusion; and which shows the malignity and virulence of their minds, and how ready they were to make use of any opportunity, and take up any occasion against him, even a bare surmise, and which had no show of probability in it; for it can never be thought, that while Paul was using methods to remove the prejudices of the Jews against him, he should take such a

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

OUTBURST OF JEWISH FURY AGAINST PAUL IN THE TEMPLE: HIS ARREST. A week later Paul is in the Temple to discharge his vow; whether it was discharged or not is uncertain. The sight of him there infuriates certain Jews from Asia (Ephesus was the metropolis of that province), who at once begin shouting, as they lay their hands on Paul, that he teaches everywhere a doctrine subversive of all that the Jew held dear; and that he had violated the Temple by taking a Gentile into the inner court. An inscription on the railings (Revelation 11:2 *, _cf_. Ephesians 2:14 *) denounced the penalty of death against any Gentile found there. It was a suspicion merely; Trophimus (Acts 20:4) had been seen with Paul on the streets but not

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

SEEN BEFORE. Greek. _proorao_. Only here and Acts 2:25. CITY. It was in the city Trophimus was seen in Paul's company, and they came to the conclusion that when they saw Paul in the Temple, Trophimus must be there too. AN. the. SUPPOSED. concluded. Greek. _nomizo_. See note on Acts 14:19. But the evidence was insufficient. Paul was too well informed not to be aware of the inscription which forbade the entry of any alien within the inner temple under penalty of death. It was on one of the pillars of the balustrade which separated the court of the women, where the Nazirite ceremonies were performed, from the inner sanctuary. The stone bearing this inscription was discovered by M. Clermont Ganneau in 1871. It is as follows: "No alien is to enter within the railing and encl

_For they had_, &c. Hence we see that Trophimus had come with the Apostle not only "as far as Asia" (see note on Acts 20:4), but all the way to Jerusalem. His name bespeaks the man a Greek, and, from the anger of these Asiatic Jews, he was doubtless a convert to Christianity without having been a proselyte of Judaism. It is noticeable that so ready were these men to find a cause for attacking St Paul, that they began it on a mere thought, "They supposed Paul had brought him into the temple....