Act 21 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Acts 21:1-18: 21:1-18 This “we” passage (see study notes on 16:10; 20:5-15) covers Paul’s journey from Miletus to Jerusalem at the close of the third missionary journey. 21:1 Cos was an island in the Aegean Sea with a major trade port. • Rhodes is a large Aegean island that featured the Colossus, a huge statue 100 feet (30 meters) tall that once stood at the entrance to the city. In Paul’s time, the statue lay where it had fallen during an earthquake over 200 years earlier; it would not be removed for another 600 years. • Patara was the major port of Lycia, located on the coast opposite Rhodes.

Summary for Acts 21:1-18: 21:1-18 ^a This “we” passage (see study notes on 16:10; 20:5-15) covers Paul’s journey from Miletus to Jerusalem at the close of the third missionary journey. 21:1 ^b Cos was an island in the Aegean Sea with a major trade port.

• Rhodes is a large Aegean island that featured the Colossus, a huge statue 100 feet (30 meters) tall that once stood at the entrance to the city. In Paul’s time, the statue lay where it had fallen during an earthquake over 200 years earlier; it would not be removed for another 600 years.

• Patara was the major port of Lycia, located on the coast opposite Rhodes.
Summary for Acts 21:2-3: 21:2-3 ^c Tyre was an important port in Phoenicia with a maritime empire of far-flung commercial interests (see Isa 23 ^d; Jer 25:15-38 ^e; 47 ^f; Zech 9 ^g; Matt 15:21-28 ^h; Mark 7:24-31 ⁱ).
Summary for Acts 21:4-6: 21:4-6 ^j The local believers at Tyre gave Paul a touching farewell that reveals deep Christian fellowship.

• prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem: The believers at Tyre clearly foresaw the danger in Paul’s visiting Jerusalem and out of brotherly concern tried to dissuade him. Paul willingly accepted the risks in order to fulfill his apostolic mandate (cp. Phil 3:7-10 ^k). See also study note on Acts 21:11-14.
21:7 ^l Paul visited Ptolemais, an important city on the coast of the Mediterranean, as he made his way from Tyre to Caesarea.
21:8 ^m Philip had the title of Evangelist due to his evangelistic activity (8:4-40 ⁿ; cp. Eph 4:11 ^o; 2 Tim 4:5 ^p).
21:9 ^q Philip’s daughters’ gift of prophecy demonstrated the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy, as Peter had preached at Pentecost (2:17-21 ^r; Joel 2:28-32 ^s).
21:10 ^t Luke juxtaposes female prophets (21:9 ^u) with a male prophet (see study note on 17:34). Agabus, like the Old Testament prophets, used symbolic actions to proclaim his message (see thematic note for Prophetic Sign Acts at end of chapter).
Summary for Acts 21:11-14: 21:11-14 ^v Despite Agabus’s prediction of suffering and the believers’ begging Paul not to go to Jerusalem, Paul was resolutely ready even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus. Luke stresses Paul’s courage, determination, and heroism as a Christian missionary who would let nothing interfere with his mission. See study note on 21:4-6.
Summary for Acts 21:18-19: 21:18-19 ^w It was important for James and all the elders of the Jerusalem church to hear of Paul’s successful mission among the Gentiles and for the mother church to continue to endorse this effort (21:20 ^x; see 15:7-21 ^y). Paul’s report communicated that God had accomplished his purposes among the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry.
Summary for Acts 21:20-25: 21:20-25 ^z The Jerusalem church leaders urged Paul to strengthen his credibility by demonstrating that he was not teaching Jews to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. At the same time, no attempt was made to force Jewish rules on Gentile converts—those terms had been set previously (15:22-29 ^aa) and were simply to be honored.
Summary for Acts 21:26-36: 21:26-36 ^ab The concerns of the Christian leaders (21:20-25 ^ac) were evidently well based, for when their vows were almost completed, some Jews from the province of Asia raised a mob against Paul with false charges. They were intent on killing Paul, but the Roman commander rescued him.
Summary for Acts 21:28-29: 21:28-29 ^ad Gentiles: It was a crime punishable by death to bring any non-Jew into the Temple precincts beyond the Court of the Gentiles (see also Josephus, War 5.5.2; 6.2.4). The Jews assumed that Paul had violated this sacred law by bringing Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus (see also Acts 20:4 ^ae; 2 Tim 4:20 ^af), into the forbidden area.
21:30 ^ag This supposed desecration of the Temple aroused the fury of the Jewish populace. The Temple ... gates were closed because they thought the Temple had been defiled by a Gentile.
21:31 ^ah commander: Or tribune, a Roman officer who commanded 1,000 men.
21:34 ^ai The fortress of Antonia, a large military garrison built by Herod the Great on the northwest corner of the Temple Mount, accommodated the Roman cohort that was stationed there to keep the peace.
Summary for Acts 21:37-40: 21:37-40 ^aj The commander had mistaken Paul for an Egyptian false messiah who had planned to seize power from the Romans around AD 54 (roughly three years earlier; see Josephus, War 2.13.5). Paul corrected the mistake, gained permission to speak to the people, and addressed the crowd in Aramaic, the common language of Judea. He gave a strong statement of his faith in Jesus as the Messiah (Acts 22:1-21 ^ak).

Thematic note: Prophetic Sign Acts
The prophets of Israel occasionally communicated through sign acts, which were dramatic visual aids performed in public to increase the impact of the message and help people feel the truth as much as hear it. Their purpose was to present an unforgettable message. These acts were unusual, even outlandish—and not just from a modern perspective. Unlike modern readers, however (who might think that the prophet was psychologically disturbed), ancient observers understood these sign acts as a regular part of a prophet’s communication style.
Ezekiel was required to act out his message more frequently than any other prophet, perhaps because he was communicating to a particularly hardened audience (Ezek 2:6-7 ^al). The sign acts reinforced the content of his message and underlined the depth of his personal commitment to it. For example, after he swallowed the word of God (2:8–3:3 ^am), Ezekiel embodied it for the exiles (3:4-9 ^an) in a series of judgment scenes (chs 4–6 ^ao). This dramatic form of communication is difficult for even a hostile audience to ignore or forget.
The ultimate sign act was performed by Jesus Christ on the cross (see Matt 27:32-54 ^ap). There God visibly depicted his wrath against sin in the darkness, the earthquake, and the agony of the sinless one who was apparently abandoned by his Father. God also depicted his profound love for the world in that he would rather die than let his people go. The cross is a confrontational message of God’s love and wrath that is hard to ignore or forget.

Passages for Further Study
Jer 13:1-11 ^aq; 19:1-15 ^ar; 25:15 ^as; Ezek 2:6–3:3 ^at; 3:4-9 ^au; 4:1-17 ^av; 5:1–6:14 ^aw; 12:1-28 ^ax; 21:19-23 ^ay; 24:1-14 ^az, 16-27 ^ba; 37:15-28 ^bb; Hos 1:2-9 ^bc; 3:1-3 ^bd; Matt 26:26-28 ^be; 27:45-54 ^bf; Mark 6:11 ^bg; 11:12-21 ^bh; Luke 22:17-20 ^bi; Rom 6:3-5 ^bj; 1 Cor 10:16-17 ^bk; 11:23-32 ^bl