Acts 16:20
in Acts 16They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
KJV
And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
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This verse in Acts 16
Commentary
7 notes on this verseBrought them to the magistrates - Στρατηγοις, The commanders of the army, who, very likely, as this city was a Roman colony, possessed the sovereign authority. The civil magistrates, therefore, having heard the case, as we shall soon find, in which it was pretended that the safety of the state was involved, would naturally refer the business to the decision of those who had the supreme command. Exceedingly trouble our city - They are destroying the public peace, and endangering the public safety.
This site's exposition
hope of their gains was gone
on Acts 16:19-21
When her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, the deliverance that freed the girl costing her owners money and turning them into accusers, the same pattern of gospel opposition rooted in threatened profit that recurs at Ephesus in chapter nineteen. The charge brought is carefully framed, these men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, being Romans, an appeal to civic and ethnic prejudice in a colony proud of its Roman status rather than any true legal complaint. Luke lets the reader see that the real grievance, lost income, is dressed in the language of public order the magistrates will actually act on.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city!": by doing what? Then why did you not drag them hither before this? "Being Jews": the name was in bad odor.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They take it for granted that these men are Jews, a nation at this time as much an abomination to the Romans as they had long ago been to the Egyptians. Piteous was the case of the apostles, when it was turned to their reproach that they were Jews, and yet the Jews were their most violent persecutors!
And brought them to the magistrates,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
There is some color of truth in all such accusations, in so far as the Gospel, and generally the fear of God, as a reigning principle of human action, is in a godless world a thoroughly revolutionary principle . . .
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And brought them to the magistrates - To the military rulers στρατηγοῖς stratēgois or praetors. Philippi was a Roman colony, and it is probable that the officers of the army exercised the double function of civil and military rulers. Do exceedingly trouble our city - In what way they did it they specify in the next verse. The charge which they wished to substantiate was that of being disturbers of the public peace. All at once they became conscientious. They forgot the subject of their gains, and were greatly distressed about the violation of the laws. There is nothing that will make people more hypocritically conscientious than to denounce, and detect, and destroy their unlawful and dishonest practices. People who are thus exposed become suddenly filled with reverence for the Law or for religion, and they who have heretofore cared nothing for either become greatly alarmed lest the public peace should be disturbed. People slumber quietly in sin, and pursue their wicked gains; they hate or despise all law and all forms of religion; but the moment their course of life is attacked and exposed, they become full of zeal for laws that they Would not themselves hesitate to violate, and for the customs of religion which in their hearts they thoroughly despise. Worldly-minded people often thus complain that their neighborhoods are disturbed by revivals of religion; and the preaching of the truth, and the attacking of their vices, often arouses this hypocritical conscientiousness, and makes them alarmed for the laws, and for religion, and for order, which they at other times are the first to disturb and disregard.
The words behind it
15 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| προσαγαγόντες | prosagagontes | having brought up | G4317 → | |
| αὐτοὺς | autous | them | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τοῖς | tois | to the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| στρατηγοῖς | strategois | magistrates | G4755 → | 10 times |
| εἶπαν· | eipan | they said; | G2036 → | 925 times |
| οὗτοι | houtoi | These | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| οἱ | hoi | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄνθρωποι | anthropoi | men | G444 → | 549 times |
| ἐκταράσσουσιν | ektarassousin | exceedingly trouble | G1613 → | |
| ἡμῶν | hemon | of us | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πόλιν | polin | city | G4172 → | 163 times |
| Ἰουδαῖοι | ioudaioi | Jews | G2453 → | 192 times |
| ὑπάρχοντες· | huparchontes | being; | G5225 → | 60 times |
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
προσαγαγόντεςhaving brought up
prosagagontesG4317 →
αὐτοὺςthem
autousG846 →5565 times
τοῖςto the
toisG3588 →19766 times
στρατηγοῖςmagistrates
strategoisG4755 →10 times
εἶπαν·they said;
eipanG2036 →925 times
οὗτοιThese
houtoiG3778 →1381 times
οἱ<the>
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ἄνθρωποιmen
anthropoiG444 →549 times
ἐκταράσσουσινexceedingly trouble
ektarassousinG1613 →
ἡμῶνof us
hemonG3165 →1936 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
πόλινcity
polinG4172 →163 times
ἸουδαῖοιJews
ioudaioiG2453 →192 times
ὑπάρχοντες·being;
huparchontesG5225 →60 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 12:2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- Ephesians 4:22–24
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!
- Colossians 3:10
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- 1 John 2:15–17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 1 Peter 1:14
Through
James 4:4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
it leads to
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Romans 8:7
because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
- Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and…
- 1 John 2:15–16
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 35; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.