Acts 21:40

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, And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. 'What nobler spectacle (exclaims Chrysostom, or some other in his name, quoted by Hackett) than that of Paul at this moment! There he stood, bound with two chains, ready to make his defense to the people. The Roman commander sits by, to enforce order by his presence. An enraged populace look up to him from below. Yet in the midst of so many dangers, how self-possessed is he, how tranquil!' AND WHEN THERE WAS MADE A GREAT SILENCE - THE PEOPLE AWED AT THE PERMISSION GIVEN HIM BY THE COMMANDANT, AND SEEING HIM SITTING AS A LISTENER, _ He spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue_ - the Syro-Chaldai...

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 21:40. _PAUL STOOD ON THE STAIRS_] Where he was out of the reach of the mob, and was surrounded by the Roman soldiers. _BECKONED WITH THE HAND_] _Waving_ the hand, which was the sign that he was about to address the people. So VIRGIL says of Turnus, when he wished, by single combat between himself and AEneas, to put an end to the war:- _Significatque manu_, et magno simul incipit ore: Parcite jam, Rutuli; et vos tela inhibete, Latini. _He beckoned with his hand_, and cried out with a loud voice, Desist, ye Rutulians; and, ye Latins, cease from throwing your javelins....

LICENCE - Liberty; permission. ON THE STAIRS - See the notes on Acts 21:35. BECKONED WITH THE HAND - Waving the hand as a sign that he was about to address them, and to produce silence and attention. See Acts 12:17. IN THE HEBREW TONGUE - The language which was spoken by the Jews, which was then a mixture of the Chaldee and Syriac, called Syro-Chaldaic. This language he doubtless used on this occasion in preference to the Greek, because it was understood better by the multitude, and would tend to conciliate them if they heard him address them in their own tongue. The following chapter should have been connected with this. The division here is unnatural.

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 HE HAD GIVEN HIM LICENCE,.... To speak to the people, which he could not well deny him, after he had so freely declared who he was, and in so courteous a manner addressed him, and asked leave of him: PAUL STOOD ON THE STAIRS; on the steps of the ascent to the castle, on the top of them: AND BECKONED WITH THE HAND UNTO THE PEOPLE; to desire silence, which he might be able to do, notwithstanding his chains; for his being bound with a chain to a soldier, did not hinder the moving and lifting up of his hand: AND WHEN THERE WAS MADE A GREAT SILENCE; either through the authority of the captain, who might command it, or through the desire of the people, to hear what he could say for himself: HE SPAKE UNTO THEM IN THE HEBREW TONGUE; which the people he spoke to best understood, and was his own mother tongue; the Alexandrian copy reads, "in his own dialect"; this was not pure Hebrew...

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)...

GIVEN HIM LICENCE. Same word as "suffer" in Acts 21:39. STOOD... AND. standing. BECKONED. See note on Acts 12:17. SPAKE UNTO THEM. addressed (them). Greek. _prosphoneo_. Only here, Acts 22:2.Matthew 11:16; Luke 6:13; Luke 7:32; Luke 13:12; Luke 23:20. HEBREW. Greek. Hebrais.