Act 21-22 | 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

‏ Acts 22

Summary for Acts 22:1-21: 22:1-21 ^bm Paul’s premier defense of his life and faith before his own people in Jerusalem illustrates his flexibility as a missionary, just as his speech to the Greek philosophers in Athens had done (17:22-31 ^bn; see 1 Cor 9:20-23 ^bo). Paul begins by recognizing his kinship with his people, explaining his Jewish background and training under the noted rabbi Gamaliel the Elder and describing his zealous desire to honor God in everything, which they shared (Acts 22:1-3 ^bp). Paul then describes his persecution of Christians (22:4-5 ^bq), the revelation of Jesus to him on the way to Damascus (22:6-10 ^br), and his conversion (22:11-16 ^bs). Paul ends his speech by describing his conversation with the Lord in the Temple. The Lord had predicted the Jews’ rejection of the message and had sent Paul to the Gentiles (22:17-21 ^bt).
22:3 ^bu under Gamaliel: See study note on 5:34.
Summary for Acts 22:12-16: 22:12-16 ^bv Ananias: See study note on 9:17.
22:14 ^bw the Righteous One: See also 3:14 ^bx; 7:52 ^by; 1 Jn 2:1 ^bz. Righteousness was one of the Messiah’s characteristics (see Isa 32:1 ^ca; 53:11 ^cb).
22:16 ^cc be baptized. Have your sins washed away: See thematic note for Baptism at end of chapter.
Summary for Acts 22:17-22: 22:17-22 ^cd While Paul was praying in the Temple, he saw a vision of Jesus telling him that the people of Jerusalem would not accept his testimony. The Lord then sent him to the Gentiles. The crowd’s response to this report (22:22-23 ^ce) proved the point.
22:23 ^cf The crowd’s yelling, throwing off their coats, and tossing handfuls of dust into the air were probably ritual responses to perceived blasphemy. They opposed and tried to thwart Paul’s words that suggested the inclusion of Gentiles (22:21 ^cg). Cp. Luke 4:16-30 ^ch.
Summary for Acts 22:25-29: 22:25-29 ^ci Paul claimed his status as a Roman citizen at this critical time when he was about to be tortured to make him confess his supposed crime. Roman citizenship was a valuable asset, and claiming it falsely was a capital offense. Its principal benefits were the prohibition of scourging and the right to appeal to the emperor (25:11 ^cj). The commander was frightened at having nearly violated Roman law (cp. 16:35-39 ^ck).
22:28 ^cl it cost me plenty! During the early part of the reign of Emperor Claudius (AD 41–54), Roman citizenship could be purchased, but it was expensive.

Thematic note: Baptism
Baptism was an important element of the Christian faith from the very beginning (Acts 2:38 ^cm). The words “baptism” and “baptize” were already used in Judaism to refer to a religious rite for cleansing. The law of Moses established the use of water to cleanse people from ceremonial defilement (Num 19:14-19 ^cn). Later, Gentile converts to Judaism from pagan religions were admitted to Judaism only after fulfilling certain obligations, which included the study of the Torah, circumcision, and a ritual bath to wash away the impurities of their Gentile background. This ritual cleansing was often done in special baths created for purification, called mikvahs. Mikvahs were located at many synagogues, and the Temple in Jerusalem had a large number of mikvahs, which suggests that those who approached for worship would ritually bathe.
John preached “that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven” (Luke 3:3 ^co). John’s baptism was an aspect of his role in preparing people’s hearts to receive the Messiah (Luke 3:4-6 ^cp), and those who had received his baptism and repented of their sins were those who were prepared for Jesus’ message (Luke 7:29-30 ^cq).
After his resurrection, Jesus commanded his disciples to baptize new converts (Matt 28:19 ^cr). Christian baptism is understood as dying and rising with Christ, signifying the death of the old life and the beginning of the new (Rom 6:1-4 ^cs; Col 2:12 ^ct) and also signifying a Christian’s spiritual union with Christ (Gal 3:27 ^cu) and with his church. Baptism thus became the rite of initiation in the Christian community. For this reason, many interpreters see baptism as the Christian equivalent of circumcision, the rite that initiated membership into the nation of Israel under the old covenant (see Col 2:11-12 ^cv). Whatever the connection with OT circumcision, baptism signifies a changed heart and a clean conscience that come from God’s forgiveness (1 Pet 3:21 ^cw; cp. Deut 10:16 ^cx; 30:6 ^cy; Jer 4:4 ^cz; Rom 2:28-29 ^da; Phil 3:3 ^db).
As a ritual cleansing, Christian baptism signifies both forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38 ^dc; 10:43 ^dd; 13:38 ^de; 26:17-18 ^df) and the reception of the Holy Spirit (2:38 ^dg; 9:17-18 ^dh; 10:47-48 ^di; 11:15-17 ^dj; 19:5-7 ^dk; Luke 3:16 ^dl). Many interpreters see baptism as the outward confirmation of the inward “seal” of the Spirit, whose presence is a “guarantee” of the eternal inheritance that awaits God’s faithful people (2 Cor 1:21-22 ^dm; Eph 1:13-14 ^dn; 4:30 ^do; Titus 3:5 ^dp).

Passages for Further Study
Matt 3:6-16 ^dq; 21:25 ^dr; 28:19 ^ds; Mark 1:4-9 ^dt; 10:38-39 ^du; 11:30 ^dv; 16:16 ^dw; Luke 3:3-22 ^dx; 7:29-30 ^dy; 12:50 ^dz; 20:4 ^ea; John 1:25-36 ^eb; 3:22-23 ^ec, 26 ^ed; 4:1-2 ^ee; 10:40 ^ef; Acts 1:5 ^eg, 22 ^eh; 2:38 ^ei, 41 ^ej; 8:12-13 ^ek, 16-17 ^el, 36-38 ^em; 9:18 ^en; 10:37 ^eo, 47-48 ^ep; 11:16 ^eq; 13:24 ^er; 16:15 ^es, 33 ^et; 18:8 ^eu, 25 ^ev; 19:1-7 ^ew; 22:16 ^ex; Rom 6:3-4 ^ey; 1 Cor 1:13-17 ^ez; 10:2 ^fa; 12:13 ^fb; 15:29 ^fc; Gal 3:27 ^fd; Eph 4:5 ^fe; Col 2:12 ^ff; Heb 6:2 ^fg; 1 Pet 3:21 ^fh; 1 Jn 5:6 ^fi