Atos 21

ARC · Chapter 21/28

1E aconteceu que, separando-nos d'elles, navegámos e fomos correndo caminho direito, e chegámos a Coos, e no dia seguinte a Rhodes, de onde passámos a Patara.

2E, achando um navio, que passava á Phenicia, embarcámos n'elle, e partimos.

3E, indo já á vista de Chypre, deixando-a á esquerda, navegámos para a Syria, e chegámos a Tyro; porque o navio havia de ser descarregado ali.

4E, achando discipulos, ficámos nós ali sete dias: os quaes pelo Espirito diziam a Paulo que não subisse a Jerusalem.

5E, havendo passado ali aquelles dias, saimos, e seguimos nosso caminho, acompanhando-nos todos, com suas mulheres e filhos, até fóra da cidade; e, postos de joelhos na praia, orámos.

6E, saudando-nos uns aos outros, subimos ao navio; e elles voltaram para suas casas.

7E nós, concluida a navegação de Tyro, viemos a Ptolemaida; e, havendo saudado os irmãos, ficámos com elles um dia.

8E no dia seguinte, partindo d'ali Paulo, e nós que com elle estavamos, chegámos a Cesarea: e, entrando em casa de Philippe, o evangelista, que era um dos sete, ficámos com elle.

9E tinha este quatro filhas donzellas, que prophetizavam.

10E, demorando-nos ali por muitos dias, desceu da Judea um propheta, por nome Agabo;

11E, vindo elle a nós, e tomando a cinta de Paulo, e ligando-se os pés e mãos, disse: Isto diz o Espirito Sancto: Assim ligarão os judeos em Jerusalem o varão cuja é esta cinta, e o entregarão nas mãos dos gentios

12E, ouvindo nós isto, rogámos-lhe, tanto nós como os que eram d'aquelle logar, que não subisse a Jerusalem.

13Porém Paulo respondeu: Que fazeis vós, chorando e magoando-me o coração? porque eu estou prompto, não só a ser ligado, mas ainda a morrer em Jerusalem pelo nome do Senhor Jesus

14E, como não podiamos persuadil-o, nos aquietámos, dizendo: Faça-se a vontade do Senhor.

15E depois d'aquelles dias, havendo feito os nossos preparativos, subimos a Jerusalem.

16E foram tambem comnosco alguns discipulos de Cesarea, levando comsigo um certo Mnason, chyprio, discipulo antigo, com o qual haviamos de pousar.

17E, logo que chegámos a Jerusalem, os irmãos nos receberam de muito boa vontade.

18E no dia seguinte, Paulo entrou comnosco em casa de Thiago, e todos os anciãos vieram ali.

19E, havendo-os saudado, contou-lhes por miudo o que por seu ministerio Deus fizera entre os gentios.

20E, ouvindo-o elles, glorificaram ao Senhor, e disseram-lhe: Bem vês, irmão, quantos milhares de judeos ha que crêem, e todos são zeladores da lei

21E já ácerca de ti foram informados que ensinas todos os judeos que estão entre os gentios a apartarem-se de Moysés, dizendo que não devem circumcidar a seus filhos, nem andar segundo o costume da lei.

22Que faremos pois? em todo o caso é necessario que a multidão se ajunte; porque ouvirão que já és vindo.

23Faze pois isto que te dizemos: Temos quatro varões que fizeram voto.

24Toma comtigo a estes, e sanctifica-te com elles, e faze por elles os gastos para que rapem a cabeça, e todos saibam que nada ha d'aquillo de que foram informados ácerca de ti, mas que tambem tu mesmo andas guardando a lei.

25Porém, quanto aos que crêem dos gentios, já nós havemos escripto, e achado por bem, que nada d'isto observem; mas que só se guardem do que se sacrifica aos idolos, e do sangue, e do suffocado e da fornicação.

26Então Paulo, tomando comsigo aquelles varões, sanctificado com elles, entrou no dia seguinte no templo, annunciando serem já cumpridos os dias da sanctificação, ficando ali até se offerecer por cada um d'elles a offerta.

27E, indo-se já acabando os sete dias, os judeos da Asia, vendo-o no templo, alvoroçaram todo o povo e lançaram mão d'elle,

28Clamando: Varões israelitas, acudi: este é o homem que por todas as partes ensina a todos, contra o povo e contra a lei, e contra este logar; e, demais d'isto, introduziu tambem no templo os gregos, e profanou este sancto logar.

29Porque d'antes tinham visto com elle na cidade a Trophimo d'Epheso, ao qual pensavam que Paulo introduzira no templo.

30E alvoroçou-se toda a cidade, e fez-se um concurso de povo; e, pegando de Paulo, o arrastaram para fóra do templo, e logo as portas se fecharam.

31E, procurando elles matal-o, chegou ao tribuno da cohorte a nova de que Jerusalem estava toda em confusão.

32O qual, tomando logo comsigo soldados e centuriões, correu para elles. E, vendo elles o tribuno e os soldados, cessaram de ferir a Paulo.

33Então, chegando o tribuno, o prendeu e o mandou atar com duas cadeias. e lhe perguntou quem era e o que tinha feito.

34E na multidão uns clamavam d'uma maneira outros d'outra; porém, como nada podia saber ao certo, por causa do alvoroço, mandou conduzil-o para a fortaleza.

35E succedeu que, chegando ás escadas, os soldados tiveram de lhe pegar por causa da violencia da multidão.

36Porque a multidão do povo o seguia, clamando: Mata-o.

37E, quando iam a introduzir Paulo na fortaleza, disse Paulo ao tribuno: É-me permittido dizer-te alguma coisa? E elle disse: Sabes o grego?

38Não és tu porventura aquelle egypcio que antes d'estes dias levantou uma sedição e levou ao deserto quatro mil salteadores?

39Porém Paulo lhe disse: Na verdade que sou um homem judeo, cidadão de Tarso, cidade não pouco celebre na Cilicia: rogo-te, porém, que me permittas fallar ao povo.

40E, havendo-lh'o permittido, Paulo, pondo-se em pé nas escadas, fez signal com a mão ao povo; e, feito grande silencio, fallou-lhes em lingua hebraica, dizendo:

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Despite prophetic warnings of danger, Paul insists on going to Jerusalem. There, he is recognized in the temple by Jews from Asia, who falsely accuse him and stir up a riot; he is arrested by the Romans, who rescue him from the enraged crowd.

Explanation

Several prophetic warnings (including Agabus binding his own belt) try to dissuade Paul, but he presses on determined, saying he is ready even to die for Christ. The leaders in Jerusalem ask him to take part in a purification rite to prove he still respected the Jewish law — an attempt to calm tensions that, ironically, is what triggers the riot. The intervention of the Roman commander, who rescues Paul from the crowd, shows how the structure of the Roman Empire, despite being pagan, would go on to protect Paul at several future moments.

Fun facts

  • The 'barracks' where Paul was taken was the Antonia Fortress, built by Herod the Great and connected to the temple courtyard by stairs — allowing Roman soldiers to intervene quickly in religious riots, as happened here.
  • Being mistaken for 'the Egyptian' who led a revolt is confirmed by Flavius Josephus, who records a false Egyptian prophet who gathered thousands of followers on the Mount of Olives shortly before this period.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Atos 21:1After the emotional farewell in Ephesus, the group continues by ship, making quick stops at Coos, Rhodes, and Patara, islands and ports along the coast of Asia Minor.
  2. Atos 21:2At Patara, they find another ship heading straight for Phoenicia, on the coast of Syria, and change vessels to continue the journey.
  3. Atos 21:3They pass within sight of Cyprus, Barnabas’s home island, without stopping there, and continue on to Tyre, where the ship needed to unload its cargo.
  4. Atos 21:4In Tyre they find an already established Christian community and stay seven days; these disciples, through the Spirit, warn Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
  5. Atos 21:5At the end of the stay, the whole community of Tyre, including women and children, walks with the group outside the city, and they all kneel on the beach to pray together before departing.
  6. Atos 21:6After saying goodbye, they board the ship again, and the Christians of Tyre return to their own homes, closing out this leg of the journey.
  7. Atos 21:7From Tyre they arrive at Ptolemais, where they greet another community of believers and stay as guests for one day before moving on.
  8. Atos 21:8In Caesarea, the group stays at the house of Philip the evangelist, the same Philip from chapters 6 and 8, one of the first seven deacons chosen in Jerusalem.
  9. Atos 21:9The daughters of Philip, the evangelist from chapter 8, exercised the gift of prophecy, showing that women also prophesied openly in the earliest Christian communities, something the text mentions without further comment.
  10. Atos 21:10During the extended stay in Caesarea, a prophet named Agabus, already mentioned earlier predicting a famine in chapter 11, comes down from Judea to visit them.
  11. Atos 21:11Agabus gives a dramatic demonstration, binding his own feet and hands with Paul’s belt, announcing that the Jews of Jerusalem would bind the owner of that belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.
  12. Atos 21:12Faced with this alarming prophecy, both the local residents and Paul’s own traveling companions try to convince him not to go up to Jerusalem.
  13. Atos 21:13Paul answers, deeply moved, asking why they insist on weeping and breaking his heart, since he was ready not only to be bound, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of Jesus.
  14. Atos 21:14Seeing that they could not move Paul from his decision, the group gives up insisting and accepts that the Lord’s will be done, even without fully understanding the plan.
  15. Atos 21:15After these days of warnings and farewells, the group finally finishes its preparations and heads up toward Jerusalem.
  16. Atos 21:16Some disciples from Caesarea join the journey, bringing along an early Christian named Mnason, from Cyprus, in whose house they would stay in Jerusalem.
  17. Atos 21:17On arriving in Jerusalem, the group is received joyfully by the brothers of the city, a calm welcome before the tension that would soon follow.
  18. Atos 21:18The next day, Paul goes with the group to the house of James, the brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church, where all the local elders were also present.
  19. Atos 21:19After greeting them, Paul reports in detail everything God had done among the Gentiles through his missionary work.
  20. Atos 21:20The leaders in Jerusalem point out to Paul that there was a large number of Jewish Christians who kept practicing the whole Mosaic law as usual. Faith in Jesus, for them, did not mean abandoning Jewish customs.
  21. Atos 21:21The leaders in Jerusalem tell Paul about a troubling rumor: that he was teaching Jews of the diaspora to abandon the law of Moses and stop circumcising their children.
  22. Atos 21:22Worried about the fallout, they acknowledge that news of Paul’s arrival will certainly draw a curious or hostile crowd.
  23. Atos 21:23The four men under a vow mentioned here probably took the same kind of Nazirite vow already seen with Paul in chapter 18, which involved a period of consecration ending with offerings at the temple and a haircut.
  24. Atos 21:24The proposed solution is for Paul to publicly take part in a rite of purification together with four men who had taken a vow, visibly proving that he himself still respected the Jewish law.
  25. Atos 21:25The leaders stress that this requirement was only for Paul, since the decision about converted Gentiles made at the council in chapter 15 still stood and did not include keeping the whole law.
  26. Atos 21:26Paul takes part in the purification rites at the temple with these four men, paying the required expenses, precisely to publicly prove that he still respected the Jewish law and was not teaching Jews to abandon it, as the rumor claimed.
  27. Atos 21:27Near the end of the seven days of the rite, Jews from the province of Asia recognize Paul in the temple, stir up the crowd against him, and seize him by force.
  28. Atos 21:28The temple in Jerusalem had an area forbidden to non-Jews, marked by warning inscriptions, and entering it could even be a capital crime. The crowd wrongly assumes that Paul had brought a Gentile past that line.
  29. Atos 21:29The accusation arises from a misunderstanding: they had seen Paul in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and assumed, without proof, that he had brought this Gentile into the forbidden area of the temple.
  30. Atos 21:30The uproar spreads through the whole city, and the crowd drags Paul out of the temple, shutting the gates right after, probably to prevent further profanation.
  31. Atos 21:31While they are trying to kill him, news of the disturbance in Jerusalem quickly reaches the Roman commander in charge of the city garrison.
  32. Atos 21:32The commander acts quickly, bringing soldiers and centurions to the scene; their presence alone is enough to make the crowd stop beating Paul.
  33. Atos 21:33The commander arrests Paul, orders him bound with two chains, and only afterward asks who he was and what he had done—arresting first and questioning later.
  34. Atos 21:34Unable to make out anything clearly, since the crowd was shouting different things at once, the commander decides to take Paul into the Roman fortress adjoining the temple.
  35. Atos 21:35The crowd’s violence is so intense that the soldiers themselves have to carry Paul up the stairs of the fortress to protect him physically.
  36. Atos 21:36The crowd keeps following behind them, insistently shouting for his death, showing how quickly the hatred against Paul had grown.
  37. Atos 21:37Right at the entrance to the fortress, Paul surprises the commander by asking to speak with him in Greek, an educated language the commander did not expect from a supposed criminal.
  38. Atos 21:38The commander mistakes Paul for a well-known Egyptian agitator, who had led an armed revolt shortly before, showing how the region lived under the constant threat of uprisings.
  39. Atos 21:39Paul first identifies himself as a citizen of his hometown, Tarsus, an important center of Greek culture in Cilicia, before mentioning, only in the next chapter, that he was also a Roman citizen by birth.
  40. Atos 21:40With the commander’s permission, Paul takes his place on the stairs, motions for silence, and begins speaking directly to the people in Hebrew (or Aramaic), the local language the crowd understood best.

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