Acts 21:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

NIV: He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

NASB: He immediately took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

CSB: Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

NLT: He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.

KJV: Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.

NKJV: He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Jews from Asia, a large province in western modern-day Turkey, previously saw Paul in Jerusalem with Trophimus, an Asian Gentile. When they later see Paul in the temple, they erroneously assume Paul brought Trophimus inside with him. That would be considered a religious offense, and punishable under Roman law. The accusers rile up the crowd of worshipers who promptly drag Paul out of the temple, shut the gates, and beat him. Before they can kill him, the Roman tribune hears of the commotion and intervenes (Acts 21:23–31).

The tribune is probably not yet thirty years old, likely a young senator taking a year to learn more about the Empire. That experience comes by providing administration and leadership for the Roman army's outpost in Jerusalem. The centurions are army officers in command of about 100 legionaries; about 600 soldiers live in barracks in Jerusalem.

The governor is in Caesarea Maritima, sixty miles away. Jerusalem is rather notorious for civil unrest. A Roman leader who loses control of Jerusalem may face dismissal—as Pilate discovered some time after his experience with Jesus. The tribune needs to stop the riot and extricate Paul from their grasp. However, he needs to accomplish this without such a show of strength the crowd will feel threatened. Then he needs to take Paul into the barracks to interrogate him and determine what is going on.

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.