Acts 21:39

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. But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city - better, 'I am a Jew of Tarsus, a citizen of no mean city, of Cilicia.' 'The answer of the apostle (remarks Humphry) to the two questions of the Roman captain is such as to show at once that he could speak Greek with elegance, and that he was entitled, to respectful treatment. The word rendered "citizen" [ POLITEES ( G4177)] (he adds), implying the possession of civil rights, is emphatic and appropriate; for Tarsus was a free city, having received its liberty from Mark Antony (Appian, Bell. Civ. 5: 7). It was "no mean city," for it enjoyed the title of metropolis of Cilicia, which, together with other privileges, was conferred on it by Au...

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...

Verse Acts 21:39. _I AM A MAN WHICH AM A JEW_] A periphrasis for, _I am a_ _Jew_. Acts 7:2. _OF TARSUS - NO MEAN CITY_] In _Clarke's notes on "_Acts 9:11_"_, I have shown that Tarsus was a city of considerable importance, and in some measure a rival to Rome and Athens; and that, because of the services tendered to the Romans by the inhabitants, Julius Caesar endowed them with all the rights and privileges of Roman citizens. When St. Paul calls it _no mean city_, he speaks a language that was common to those who have had occasion to speak of Tarsus. XENOPHON, _Cyri Anabas_. i., calls it, πολιν μεγαλην και ευδαιμονα, _a great and flourishing city_. JOSEPHUS, _Ant_. lib. i

A JEW OF TARSUS - A Jew by birth. OF NO MEAN CITY - Not obscure, or undistinguished. He could claim an honorable birth, so far as the place of his nativity was concerned. See the notes on Acts 9:11. Tarsus was much celebrated for its learning, and was at one time the rival of Alexandria and Athens. Xenophon calls it a great and flourishing city. Josephus (_Antiq._, book 2, chapter 6, section 6) says that it was the metropolis, and most renowned city among them (the Cilicians)....

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

BUT PAUL SAID, I AM A MAN WHICH AM A JEW OF TARSUS,.... And not that Egyptian; he was not of that country, much less that man; but a Jew, both by birth and religion; he was born of Jewish parents, and brought up in the Jewish religion; though his native place was Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, where it is placed by Pliny n, Ptolomy o, and Mela p; and is by some thought to be the same with the Tarshish of the Old Testament: A CITIZEN OF NO MEAN CITY; Pliny q calls it a free city, and Solinus r says it is the mother, or chief of cities, and Curtius s speaks of it as a very opulent one; which when Alexander drew near to with his army, the inhabitants of it set fire to, that he might not possess their riches; which he understanding, sent Parmenio to prevent it: through this city, as the same historian, in agreement with Pliny and others, observes, ran the river Cydnus; and it being summer time...

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

CONVERSATION ON THE STEPS: PAUL ADDRESSES THE JEWS. Josephus (_Wars,_ II. xiii. 5, _Ant._ XX. viii. 6) tells us of an Egyptian Jew who, under Felix, led 30, 000 men to the Mount of Olives with promises of the Messianic kingdom. He escaped when his followers were killed and dispersed; the tribune here supposes the Jews to be taking vengeance on him. He is surprised to hear Paul speak Greek: what language he expected the Egyptian to use, is not clear. The assassins are the _Sicarii,_ dagger-men, who were the extreme Jewish party and spread terror in Judæ a in the days of Felix (p. 610). That Paul after his rough usage should be anxious to address the excited crowd at his feet, seems unlikely, as also is his being allowed by the tribune to do so. But this is the last opportunity for Paul to address the Jewish people; the stairs give the position, and he is exhibited once more as enjoying th...

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

OF TARSUS. a Tarsean. Greek. _Tarseus._ See note on Acts 9:11. IN. of. CITIZEN. Greek. _polites._ Only here and Luke 15:15; Luke 19:14. MEAN. without mark. Greek. _asemos._ Only here. Used of disease without definite symptoms. In the medical writer, Hippocrates, the very expression "no mean city" occurs. Figure of speech _Tapeinosis._ App-6. BESEECH. Greek. _deomai._ App-134. SPEAK. Greek. _laleo_. App-121....