Acts

21:1-16

5. The gospel reaches Rome

i] Paul's journey to Jerusalem

Luke reveals a first-hand account of Paul's journey to Jerusalem. They travel via the islands of Kos and Rhodes, and then Patara on the mainland (also Myra, according to the Western text). Passing by Cyprus, they reach Tyre where they stay for a week with members of the local congregation. The members pass on a prophetic warning to Paul of danger ahead, but Paul is determined to press on. The team sets sail for Ptolemais, and then to Caesarea where they stay with Philip. It is at Caesarea where Paul is again warned of danger ahead, this time by the prophet Agabus. From Caesarea, the team journeys to Jerusalem where they stay at the homes of Mnason.

Seek first the kingdom of God.

i] Context: In this final section of his Acts of the Apostles, Luke records Paul's journey to Jerusalem, a journey covered by a cloud of danger - Paul is repeatedly warned of danger ahead. In Jerusalem, Paul exhibits his faithfulness to Jewish traditions by attending the temple, but he is accused of bringing Gentiles into the temple complex. He is set upon by a crowd and only saved when arrested by Roman tribunes and taken to the local barracks. Being a Roman citizen saves Paul from scorching, but he is forced to stand trial before the Jewish Council. Luke provides a detailed account of Paul's testimony and defence. Paul's nephew reveals a plot to assassinate him and so the Roman commander, Claudius, moves Paul to Caesarea, the seat of the governor, Felix.

In Caesarea, Luke gives a detailed account of Paul's defence before the Roman governors, Felix and Festus, as well as Agrippa II. These expositions of Paul's mission program and his hope for the gospel, frame his Gentile mission.

Luke's account of the movement of the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth reaches its climax with Paul's journey to Rome and his gospel-preaching there. As in Homer's Odyssey, Paul survives the raging sea to see his mission through, and as the righteous man, brings his gospel to Rome. Calling together the Jewish community, Paul proclaims the gospel of the kingdom, resulting in the usual divided response - "Some indeed were convinced by his reasonings, but others did not believe". Paul spends the next two years building up the church of the Way, unhindered by the Roman authorities.

For the occasional reader, this ending is somewhat of an anti-climax, but Luke's point is that the Pauline gospel of grace has now finally reached the centre of the world, and its future is limitless. Two other minor themes present themselves in this concluding section of the book.

First, the providential order of government for the maintenance of peace by the sword. Rome's justice system, although flawed, provides the framework for gospel expansion. In many ways, Acts serves as an apologia, confirming that Paul, the leading representative of the Gentile church of the Way, has done nothing deserving of arrest, and like all of his compatriots, is a law-abiding citizen, doing nothing more than holding to the religious convictions of the Jewish faith. It is likely that Paul's house-arrest turned into imprisonment and death, but to record this event would undermine Luke's plot. None-the-less, Luke's record bears the marks of a contemporary account of events, and so maybe Paul is still under house-arrest when Luke completes his book.

Second, the gospel of God's grace in Christ is unstoppable in its impact on human society. Yet, the intrusion of the gospel into our domain comes with a cost. As Jesus suffered, so Paul suffered, and the church will suffer, but like a ship on a raging sea, the church will reach that distant shore, bruised and battered, but victorious.

ii] Background:

•iProphecy in the New Testament, 11:19-30;

 

iii] Structure: Paul's journey to Jerusalem:

Miletus to Tyre, v1-6;

Tyre to Caesarea, v7-9;

Caesarea to Jerusalem, v10-16.

 

iv] Interpretation:

v] Homiletics: Guidance

Paul's journey to Jerusalem, v1-16; i] Miletus to Tyre, v1-6. Luke again includes himself in Paul's team with the use of the personal pronoun hJmaV, "we". As for the journey, the Western text includes the port of Myra east of Patara.

de egeneto (gimomai) aor. "-" - but/and it happened. This construction is transitional, indicating a major step in the narrative; "And it happened, came about, came to pass".

wJV "-" - when. Temporal use of this conjunction, which, with the infinitive "to set sail", introduces a temporal clause; "when we set sail".

anacqhnai (anagw) aor. pas. inf. "[we] put out to sea" - [we] to be raised up = to set sail [having parted from them]. The infinitive serves as a substantive introducing a nominal phrase standing as the subject of the impersonal verb "it happened"; "when we set sail, having parted from them had happened". The accusative subject of the infinitive is hJmaV, "we". The accusative participle apospasqentaV, "having parted", accusative in agreement with the subject of the infinitive hJmaV, "we", is adverbial, best treated as temporal, modifying the infinitive; "when we set sail after parting from them".

euqudpomhsanteV (euqudromew) aor. part. "sailed straight" - having run a straight course [we came into kos]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to come, go"; "we made a straight course and reached the port of Kos".

th/ dat. "the [next day]" - on the next day [into rhodes and from there into patara]. The article serves as a nominalizer turning the adverb exhV, "next", into a substantive, the dative being adverbial, temporal, as NIV.

euJronteV (euJriskw) aor. part. "we found [a ship]" - [and] having found [a boat]. Usually treated as a finite verb, as NIV, which technically would imply a periphrastic construction with the verb to-be assumed, but both Culy and Kellum classify the participle as adverbial, temporal; "after meeting up with a ship that was crossing over to Phoenicia".

diaperwn (diaperaw) "crossing over" - passing through [into phoenica]. Although anarthrous, the participle is probably adjectival, attributive, limiting the noun "boat"; "a boat which was crossing over to Phoenicia".

epibanteV (epibainw) aor. part. "went on board" - having embarked [we raised = set sail]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to set sail"; "we went on board and sailed in her", Cassirer.

Luke is explicit in his details: "The boat approaches Cyprus from the northwest, and as it moves past its eastern coast, it turns to the left (port) and heads for Syria and then Tyre in Phoenicia", Johnson.

anaqananteV (anafainw) "after sighting Cyprus" - [but/and] having made appear [cyprus]. Along with the participle "having left behind", this participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV; "After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left", Moffatt.

euwnumon adj "to the south of [it]" - [and having left behind it] left side, [we were sailing into syria and came down into tyre]. The adjective serves as a substantive, "the left side", accusative complement of the direct object "it = Cyprus", standing in a double accusative construction and asserting a fact about the object; "we left it on the left side." "When we sighted Cyprus (as it came up over the horizon) we left it behind us on our left (we sailed past it on our port beam), and sailed on to Syria, putting in at Tyre", Cassirer.

gar "-" - for [there the boat]. Introducing a causal clause explaining why the ship put in to Tyre; "because it was there that the ship was to unload her cargo", Cassirer.

h\n apoforizomenon (apoforizomai) aor. part. "was to unload" - was unloading [the cargo]. The imperfect verb to-be, together with the present participle, forms an imperfect periphrastic construction, possibly used to emphasise durative aspect.

The verb aneuriskw can mean "to discover", or "to seek". The sense here is obviously "seek out", given that Paul's missionary team has already visited Phoenicia, and that on his way to the Jerusalem Council he met with a local delegation of believers, cf., 11:19. As to the warning given to Paul, the sense of dia tou pneumatoV, "through the S/spirit", is unclear. The vast majority of translations opt for something like "under the guidance of the Holy Spirit", or "by revelation", etc., but something in the order of prayerful self-awareness is also possible, eg., "these brothers warned Paul, from their oneness with God", Junkins. Barrett suggests Luke is making the point that church members have received a prophetic warning that Paul faces trouble in Jerusalem, and that out of concern for his welfare, they are seeking to dissuade him from going there. Suggestions, for example, that Paul is defying the Spirt, or that the believers are mistaken, are an unnecessary over-reading of the verse.

aneuronteV (aneuriskw) aor. "we sought out" - [but/and] having discovered / sought out [the disciples we stayed there seven days]. Usually treated as an attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to stay, remain", as NIV; "We looked up the disciples and stayed there seven days", Berkeley.

dia + gen. "through [the Spirit]" - through, by means of [the spirit]. Instrumental, expressing means. "A vague statement", Kellum; see above.

elegon (legw) imperf. "they urged" - [who] were saying. The imperfect is probably iterative, expressing repeated action; "they kept telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem", NJB.

Paulw/ (oV) dat. "Paul" - to paul. Dative of indirect object.

epibainein (epibainw) pres. inf. "[not] to go on to" - [not] to go up [into jerusalem]. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what the disciples were (repeatedly) telling Paul not to do. The indirect speech belongs to the disciples, although it is somehow influenced by dia tou pneumatoV, "through the S/spirit". From the coast of Palestine, a person travels up (in height) to Jerusalem.

oJte "when" - [but/and] when. Temporal use of the conjunction, introducing a temporal clause.

exartisai (exarizw) aor. inf. "to leave" - [we] to be completed [the days happened]. The infinitive serves as the subject of the impersonal verb egeneto, "it happened, came about". The accusative pronoun hJmaV, "we", serves as the subject of the infinitive, and "days" serves as its object. If the word is used here with nautical connotations, then the sense is, "When it was time to set sail".

exelqonteV (exercomai) aor. part. "we left [and continued on our way]" - having gone [we went]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to go" (imperf., possibly inceptive) "we left them and prepared to set off".

propempontwn (propempw) gen. aor. part. "accompanied [us]" - [all the disciples, with wives and children,] accompanying [us]. The genitive participle, along with its genitive subject pantwn, "all the disciples", forms a genitive absolute construction, temporal; "while all the disciples, along with their wives and children, accompanied us".

e{wV "[out of the city]" - as far as [outside the city]. Here with a local sense, expressing extension of space, "as far as, up to".

qenteV (tiqhmi) aor. part. "we knelt [to pray]" - [and] having put [the knees on the beach, having prayed, we took leave of one another]. There are a number of ways of handling the two participles, "having put" and "having prayed", but it seems best to treat the first as adverbial, modal, expressing the manner of the prayer, and the second, "having prayed", as attendant on the verb "we took leave of, said farewell", v6; "and then, kneeling on the beach, we prayed and said goodbye to one another", Moffatt.

ta idia adj. "home" - [and those ones returned into] the one's own. Idiomatic reference to one's own things, as opposed to public things, the most important of these things being a person's home.

ii] Tyre to Caesarea, v7-9. It is likely that the journey continues in a smaller ship, involving a day's sailing from Tyre to Ptolemais, and another day on to Caesarea, with a day spent at Ptolemais with the local believers.

dianusanteV (dianuw) aor. part. "we continued" - [but/and] having completed / continued [the voyage from tyre, we came into ptolemais]. The participle is adverbial, usually treated as temporal, although the sense of "continued", rather than "completed", is possible; "When we had completed our journey from Tyre", Barclay, so ESV, etc.

aspasamenoi (aspazomai) aor. part. "where we greeted" - [and] having greeted [the brothers, we continued one day beside = with them]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to remain, abide, continue"; "where we greeted the followers and stayed with them for a day", CEV.

Luke last mentioned Philip arriving in Caesarea in 8:40. He has obviously made his home there with his family. The genitive "of Philip" probably indicates home ownership, reminding us that the New Testament church was not a socialist collective that rejected property ownership. Luke describes him as ek twn eJpta, "from / of (one of) the seven", possibly indicating that diakonoV, "deacon", is by now an order of ministry. Luke also notes that he is an euaggelisthV, "an evangelist", again possibly indicating an identifiable gift of ministry (Eph.4:11), but then it could just serve as a descriptive of Philip's ministry style.

exelqonteV (exercomai) aor. part. "leaving" - [but/and] having come out. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to come". "We left on the next day and arrived at Caesarea", Barclay.

th/ ... eJpaurion "the next day" - on the tomorrow, [we came into caesarea]. The article serves as a nominalizer turning the adverb "tomorrow" into a substantive, while the dative is adverbial, temporal, as NIV; "On the next day", ESV.

eiselqonteV (eisercomai) aor. part. "[stayed at the house]" - [and] having entered into [into the house of philip, the evangelist ....., remained beside = with him]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to remain, abide = stay"; "we entered the house of Philip the evangelist ....... and stayed with him."

o[ntoV (eimi) pres. part. "-" - being. The participle is adjectival, introducing an attributive modifier of "Philip"; "who was one of the seven", ESV.

ek + gen. "one of [the seven]" - from = of [the seven]. The preposition is used instead of a partitive genitive, as NIV.

This interesting comment by Luke leaves us with more questions than answers. Calvin concluded that these prophetesses functioned privately, rather than in a congregational setting, although, given that they are virgins, Paul's instructions regarding the involvement of married women in congregational worship would not apply. Also, given that in the next verse Luke tells us about Agabus, he probably views prophecy in the terms of fore-telling, rather than a Pauline forth-telling, cf., 1Cor.14. So, strictly speaking, their ministry may not be expository. Anyhow, Luke doesn't record any restrictions on the participation women in ministry; he doesn't hesitate telling us that Priscilla instructed her husband Apollos, 18:26, nor does he downplay the ministry of the prophetess Anna, a widow, Lk.2:36ff. It is what it is; in the New Testament church there were women exercising a prophetic ministry.

toutw/ dat. pro. "he had" - [but/and] to this one [were four daughters]. Dative of interest, advantage, or possession. Usually treated as possessive, as NIV.

parqenoi (oV) "unmarried" - virgins, young girls past puberty, unmarried women. Standing in apposition to "daughters". The word doesn't necessary mean "virgin", so the sense "unmarried" may be intended here; "he had four daughters as yet unmarried", as NIV.

profhteuousai (profhteuw) aor. part. "who prophesied" - prophesying. Although anarthrous, the participle is probably adjectival, attributive, limiting "daughters", as NIV.

iii] From Caesarea to Jerusalem, v10-16. Before heading for Jerusalem, Luke records another prophecy from Agabus. The first prophecy recored by Luke concerned the coming drought in Palestine, 11:27. Again, Agabus makes the journey from Jerusalem, describing what is about to befall Paul by acting it out. As Gaventa argues, Agabus, through the Spirit, tells what will happen in Jerusalem, and those present make up their own minds on how to respond; Paul resolves to continue the journey, while the rest try to convince him not to go.

epimenontwn (epimenw) pres. part. "after we had been there" - [but/and] we remaining, abiding, continuing. The participle forms a genitive absolute construction, temporal, with the genitive subject "we" assumed.

hJmeraV (a) acc. "[a number of] days" - [many] days. The accusative is adverbial, temporal, extent of time.

profhthV (hV ou) "a prophet" - [a certain one] a prophet. Standing in apposition to "a certain one".

onamati (a) dat. "named" - by name [agabus]. Dative of reference / respect; "with respect to his name".

apo + gen. "from" - [came down] from [judea]. Expressing source / origin. Caesarea is the capital of the Roman province of Judea, but to a Jewish mind, Jerusalem is the capital of Judea, with Caesarea outside of the province.

As already noted, the symbolic actions used by Agabus to describe Paul's arrest, are just that, they are symbolic and not literal. Paul is inevitably arrested, and the Jews are responsible. A normal prophetic revelation would use the words "Thus says the Lord"; the words used by Agabus are somewhat unique, but the sense is the same. As a model disciple, Paul will suffer as Jesus suffered.

elqwn (ercomai) aor. part. "coming over [to us]" - [and] having come [toward us and having taken the belt of paul and having bound the feet and the hands of himself, he said]. As with the participles "having taken" and "having bound", attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to say"; "He came to us, took Paul's girdle and bound his own feet and hands and said".

ouJtwV adv. "in this way" - [the holy spirit says these things, the man of whom is this belt] thus [will the jews bind and will deliver over into hands of gentiles]. Adverb of manner; "the man to whom this belt belongs will be fettered just like this", Cassirer.

wJV "when" - [but/and] when [we heard these things]. Temporal use of the conjunction serving to introduce a temporal clause.

te kai "[we] and [the people there]" - [we were begging him] both [we] and [the local people]. Introducing a coordinating construction which stands in apposition to the subject "we" of the verb "to beg, entreat, urge, exhort"; "When we heard this, we and the people there", ESV. Presumably the locals are the members of the local congregation who have gathered with Paul and his team members ("we", including Luke); "we and the other believers present".

tou + inf. "[not] to go up" - of the [not him to go up into jerusalem]. As Barrett notes, a simple infinitive would serve to introduce indirect speech, but Luke will sometimes use a genitive articular infinitive construction. Normally, such a construction would either be epexegetic or final, expressing purpose, but here it introduces an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what all present begged Paul not to do. The accusative subject of the infinitive is auton, "him"; "We, and everyone there that day, begged Paul not to be stubborn and persist in going to Jerusalem", Peterson.

As in Miletus, Luke describes a scene of high emotion, both on the part of Paul, and the believers present with him. The women's movement today has tended to paint Paul as a ridged male chauvinist, but Luke's description of deep mutual affection reveals Paul as a more loveable character. In tears, and in the face of danger, Paul is going to Jerusalem uJper, "on behalf of the name of the Lord Jesus" / "for Jesus' sake", ie., in response to his dedication to the person of Jesus. Presumably this relates to the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem, a collection to be presented by Paul on behalf of his Gentile churches, although it is interesting that Luke doesn't spell this out. As already noted, for Paul, there is powerful prophetic symbolism in Gentiles bearing gifts to the people of Israel, for such evidences the realisation of the kingdom of God. Paul is willing to die to make this point on behalf of / for the sake of / in accord with his dedication to Jesus.

tote adv. "then" - then [paul answered]. Temporal adverb serving to introduce a temporal clause.

tiv pro. "why" - what, why. Interrogative pronoun serving to introduce a rhetorical question in response to the attempt to dissuade Paul from going to Jerusalem.

klaionteV (klaiw) pres. part. "weeping" - [you are doing] weeping [and breaking the heart of me]? The participle, as with "breaking", is adverbial, modifying the verb "to do", presumably instrumental, expressing means, "by breaking my heart."

gar "-" - for. Reason rather than cause, serving to introduce Paul's answer to his rhetorical question; "Why are you making it so hard for me to do what I have to do? For my part, I am willing to be imprisoned, even die, in service to Jesus".

deqhnai (dew) aor. pas. inf. "[not only] to be bound" - [i i have readiness = am ready, not only] to be bound [but and = also to die into jerusalem]. If Luke is using the adverb eJtoimwV, "readily", as a noun, "readiness", object of the verb exw, "I have", then the infinitives "to be bound" and "to die" are epexegetic, specifying the "readiness". If, on the other hand, he has used eJtoimwV ecw to serve as a finite verb, "I readily have" = "I am ready", then the infinitives are complementary, completing the sense of "I am ready".

It becomes clear to Luke, and the other believers, that Paul can't be dissuaded from fulfilling what he believes to be his apostolic duty in Jerusalem. The statement "Let the will of the Lord be done", ESV, makes no judgment on what the will of the Lord is for Paul in respect to his visit to Jerusalem. A secular version of the statement is something like: "What will be will be!"

mh peiqomenou (qeiqw) pres. mid. part. "when [he] would not be dissuaded" - [but/and he] not being persuaded. The genitive participle and its genitive subject autou, "he", introduces a genitive absolute construction, temporal, as NIV, although possibly causal, "since he would not be persuaded", ESV.

eiponteV (legw) aor. part. "and said" - [we remained quiet] having said. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to be quiet", semi-redundant, serving to introduce direct speech; "there was nothing for us to say but, 'The Lord's will be done'", Barclay.

tou kuriou (oV) gen. "the Lord's [will]" - [let become the will] of the lord. The genitive is adjectival, probably best viewed as possessive, but verbal, subjective, is possible, "the divine plan exercised by the Lord." When it comes to a dynamic-equivalent translation, note how the CEV blasts off into outer space with "Lord, please make us willing to do what you want". Peterson is closer to the mark with "'It's in God's hands now', we said, 'Master, you handle it'".

meta + acc. "after [this]" - after [these days]. Temporal use of the preposition.

episkeuasamenoi (episkeuazomai) aor. part. "we started on our way" - having made ready [we were going up into jerusalem]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to go up"; "we got ready for the trip and went up to Jerusalem", Berkeley. Possibly adverbial, temporal; "after we made all the necessary preparations for the journey, we set out on the road up to Jerusalem", Barclay.

Presumably, Mnason has his home in or near Jerusalem, although the Western text implies that his home is on the way to Jerusalem. Either way, it must be a fairly large villa, given that the party consists of believers from Caesarea as well as Paul and his team members. Luke notes that Mnason is from Cyprus, possibly indicating that he was a convert of Paul's first missionary journey.

twn maqhtwn (hV ou) gen. "some of the disciples" - [but/and] certain = some and = also of the disciples [from caesarea went together with us]. The genitive is adjectival, partitive, limiting an assumed tineV, "certain = some", subject of the verb "to go together".

agonteV (ago) pres. part. "accompanying us" - bringing, leading [beside whom we would be entertained as a guest]. The participle is possibly attendant circumstance expressing action accompanying the main verb, as NIV, "accompanied us and brought us", although Culy notes that the difference in tense, and its position following the main verb, count against this classification. Barrett suggests that the present tense is used instead of a future tense, implying purpose, so adverbial, final, expressing purpose, "in order to"; "some of the disciples came with us, to direct us to a Cypriot named Mnason", REB.

Mnaswni (wn wnoV) dat. "Mnason" - mnason, [a certain cyprian, an old disciple (a disciple of long-standing)]. Standing in apposition to the dative pronoun w|/, "whom", dative in agreement. So also the datives "a certain Cyprian", and "a disciple of long-standing".

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