Acts 21:36 - Printer Friendly

ESV: for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”

NIV: The crowd that followed kept shouting, 'Get rid of him!'

NASB: for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, 'Away with him!'

CSB: for the mass of people followed, yelling, "Get rid of him! "

NLT: And the crowd followed behind, shouting, 'Kill him, kill him!'

KJV: For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.

NKJV: For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, “Away with him!”

Paul has faced plenty of persecution, and he's been arrested by local authorities (Acts 16:19–24). However, this is the first recorded time he's arrested by the Roman military. To prove he's a devout Jew, he planned to provide the sacrifices for four men completing a Nazirite vow. Before they can finish the ritual, Jews, likely from Ephesus, falsely accuse him of bringing a Gentile, Trophimus the Ephesian, into the temple.

The temple was set up with graduated areas of exclusivity. In the outer courtyard, everyone, including Gentile God-fearers, could worship God and learn from the rabbis under Solomon's Portico. It is this area that Jesus cleared out when the moneychangers and bird merchants filled the space such that Gentiles had no place to worship (Matthew 21:12). Every ceremonially clean Jew was allowed on the porch and the first room in the temple. Clean men were allowed in the area closer to the altar. Only priests could go inside with the lampstand and the dedicated bread. Once a year, a designated priest could enter the Holy of Holies; the ark of the covenant was no longer there, but they still offered incense (Luke 1:8–9).

It's unclear if Trophimus was a God-fearer before he met Christ, but he certainly isn't fully converted to Judaism. He is allowed in the courtyard, but not inside the temple proper. For a Gentile to go beyond the courtyard would be to violate the Mosaic law—and the desecration of any authorized religious structure violated the Roman law and was punishable by death. Presumably, this Roman law is why the Sanhedrin tried to accuse Jesus of threatening the temple (Matthew 26:61).

Jews had very limited capital punishment authorization. When the crowd killed Stephen, it was illegal, but they were able to do so because Stephen was a complete unknown (Acts 7:54–60). With Paul, the mob may think they'll be permitted to kill because he committed a capital offense according to the Roman law—or so they think. The tribune and his soldiers stop the mob and rescue Paul by arresting him. Within days, faced with the always-volatile situation in Jerusalem, an assassination plot, and Paul's status as a Roman citizen, the tribune will soon decide the entire situation is beyond his paygrade and send Paul to the governor.

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.