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Acts 21:27

in Acts 21

When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And when the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the multitude and laid hands on him,

KJV

And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,

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This verse in Acts 21

Commentary

10 notes on this verse

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Acts · Written before 735.

And when the seven days were nearly completed. These days were not yet completed, but their course was ongoing, the completion was awaited. Hence it is more clearly said in Greek: When the seven days were beginning to be completed. Otherwise, the statement he made …

This site's exposition

stirred up the whole crowd

on Acts 21:27-29

Jews from the province of Asia, very likely from Ephesus, seized Paul in the temple and charged that he had brought Greeks in. They had seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city and assumed the rest, as false testimony had convicted Stephen.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on Acts 46 · Written before 407.

proposed

"And when the seven days were about to be completed, the Jews from Asia" - for his arrival most keeps times with theirs - "when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place." Mark their habitual conduct, how turbulent we everywhere find it, how men who with or without reason make a clamor in the midst. "Jews from Asia having seen him," for it was natural that they were spending some days there, "in the Temple." Mark the economy of Providence that appeared in this. After the believing Jews had been persuaded concerning him, then it is that those Jews of Asia set upon him in order that those believing Jews may not also set upon him. "Help," say they, "ye men of Israel!" as though it were some monster difficult to be caught, and hard to be overcome, that has fallen into their hands. "All men," they say, "everywhere, he ceaseth not to teach;" not here only. And then the accusation is more aggravated by the present circumstances. "And yet more," say they, "he has polluted the temple, having brought into it men who are Greeks." And yet in Christ's time there "came up Greeks to worship": true, but here it speaks of Greeks who had no mind to worship.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Acts · Written before 1107.

proposed

Notice God's arrangement: after some were dissuaded, others, out of fear that the rest might also be dissuaded, attack Paul. Their restless character is visible everywhere.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

proposed

And when the seven days were about to be accomplished - When after giving notice to the priests, they were entering upon the accomplishment of those days. It was toward the beginning of them that Paul was seized.
And when the seven days were almost ended,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. We have here Paul and his company arrived at length at Cæsarea, where he designed to make some stay, it being the place where the gospel was first preached to the Gentiles, and the Holy Ghost fell upon them, ch. x. Who it was that entertained Paul and his company at Cæsarea.
3 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

And when the seven days were almost ended - Greek: as the seven days were about to be fulfilled - ἔμελλον συντελεῖσθαι emellon sunteleisthai. The seven days which were to complete the observance of the vow, Act 21:26. Perhaps the whole observance in this case was intended to be but seven days, as the time of such a vow was voluntary. The translation, “were almost ended,” is not quite correct.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

the Jews . . . of Asia--in all likelihood those of Ephesus (since they recognized Trophimus apparently as a townsman, Ac 21:29), embittered by their discomfiture (Ac 19:9, &c.).

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The Jews which were of Asia - These pursued him with the most deliberate and persevering malice in every place; and it appears that it was through them that the false reports were sent to and circulated through Jerusalem.

The words behind it

27 Greek words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Acts 13:50The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.6 worksActs 26:21For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.5 worksActs 24:18At the time they found me in the temple, I was ceremonially clean and was not inciting a crowd or an uproar. But there are some Jews from the province of Asia5 worksActs 17:13But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.3 worksActs 24:1Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.3 worksActs 6:9But resistance arose from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. They began to argue with Stephen,3 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
Acts 14:5But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,2 worksActs 5:18and arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.2 worksActs 18:12While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.2 worksLuke 21:12But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. On account of My name they will deliver you to the synagogues and prisons, and they will bring you before kings and governors.2 worksActs 14:19Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.2 worksActs 17:5–6The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.2 worksActs 4:3They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in custody until the next day.2 worksActs 6:12So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin,2 worksActs 14:2But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.2 works1 Kings 21:25(Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Acts 13:50

    The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

    it leads to

    • Acts 14:19

      Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Timothy 3:11

      my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Acts 14:2

      But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

    • Acts 13:45

      But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

    • Acts 17:13

      But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.

  • Through

    Acts 14:5

    But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,

    it leads to

    • Acts 17:5

      The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas,…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Acts 26:21

    For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.

    it leads to

    • Acts 21:30–31

      The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

  • Through

    Acts 24:18

    At the time they found me in the temple, I was ceremonially clean and was not inciting a crowd or an uproar. But there are some Jews from the province of Asia

    it leads to

    • Acts 26:21

      For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.

Where this verse is studied

About Acts

The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
The Pentecost, El Greco, about 1600, Museo del Prado. Public domain.
Acts: the study guide →Read Acts 21 →
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 46; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.

Read on in Acts 21 →