Acts 21:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: crying out, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place."

NIV: shouting, "Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place."

NASB: crying out, 'Men of Israel, help! This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place!'

CSB: shouting, "Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place."

NLT: yelling, 'Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple — and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles. '

KJV: Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.

NKJV: crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

Asia is the large district in western modern-day Turkey and includes the cities of Ephesus and Troas. Paul spent three years in Ephesus, healing people, expelling demons, and introducing people to the saving grace of Christ. So many Gentiles abandoned their witchcraft and idol-worship that local shrine makers started a riot. They tried to reassert the importance of Artemis worship in Ephesian culture. But by the time Paul moved on, everyone in the province of Asia knew Jesus' name (Acts 19:8–34).

Years before, Paul had fought against the errant beliefs of Pharisees who had become Jesus-followers. They taught that Gentile Jesus-followers had to adopt Jewish practices like circumcision and kosher eating. Paul and others from the church in Syrian Antioch brought the issue to the church in Jerusalem. The apostles and elders determined that Gentiles needed to refrain from sexual immorality, food sacrificed to idols, and blood, but they did not have to be circumcised (Acts 15:1–21).

When Paul returns to Jerusalem from Ephesus, he encounters a rumor which is almost the exact opposite: that he teaches Jewish Christians they should not be circumcised (Acts 21:21). To publicly reaffirm his devotion as a faithful Jew, he agrees to help four men complete a ceremonial vow (Acts 21:23–27). Jews from Asia see him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Asia (Acts 21:29). When they later see Paul in the temple, they assume Paul has brought Trophimus into the temple.

This is the evidence they need. Although encouraging a Jew to forsake the Mosaic law is punishable by death (Deuteronomy 13:1–5), Jews have lost the right to capital punishment under the Roman law. However, bringing a Gentile into the temple is desecrating a religious structure: a crime under the Roman law and punishable by death.

So, these critics and enemies try to kill Paul.

Acts 21:27–36 explains why Paul's public ministry takes a five-year hiatus. He has arrived in Jerusalem only to hear a rumor that he abandoned the Mosaic law. Seeking to prove otherwise, he is then slandered with a rumor that he brought a Gentile into the temple. Before the mob can kill him, the Roman tribune takes him into custody. He will face two years house arrest in Caesarea Maritima and two in Rome, broken up by a dangerous sea voyage that ends in a shipwreck. But he will also be able to share Jesus' story with audiences he never dreamed of. These include a king and Caesar's own household.

In Acts 21, Paul returns to Judea from his third missionary journey and promptly gets arrested. He begins by visiting Philip in Caesarea Maritima. Church elders in Jerusalem ask Paul to help men fulfill a Nazirite vow, to dispel rumors he has apostatized his Jewishness. While doing so, Ephesian Jews accuse Paul of bringing one of his Gentile Ephesian companions into the temple. The Roman military tribune keeps the enraged crowd from tearing Paul limb from limb by arresting him.

Acts 21 fulfills the fears of many of Paul's friends. Throughout the last part of his third missionary journey the Holy Spirit has been telling him he will be arrested in Jerusalem (Acts 20:23–25). When Paul reacts to dire personal prophecy, the Jesus-followers in Caesarea Maritima try to stop him from going on (Acts 21:8–14). Through a complicated trail of rumors, lies, and wrong assumptions, things go according to the Holy Spirit's foreknowledge and Roman soldiers arrest Paul. He will face the next 5 years in custody in Caesarea and Rome, but he will spread Jesus' story the entire time (Acts 22—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.