Acts 21:31
in Acts 21While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And as they were seeking to kill him, tidings came up to the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in confusion.
KJV
And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
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This verse in Acts 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And as they went about to kill him - Greek: they seeking to kill him. This was evidently done in a popular tumult, as had been done in the case of Stephen, Acts 7: They could not pretend that they had a right to do it by law. Tidings came - The news, or rumour came; he was told of it. The chief captain of the band - This band or body of Roman soldiers was stationed in the castle Antonia, on the north of the temple.
This site's exposition
at once the gates were shut
on Acts 21:30-31
The crowd dragged Paul out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. While they tried to kill him, the Roman commander heard that all Jerusalem was in turmoil. The fortress Antonia adjoined the temple so that its garrison could answer this kind of disturbance.
This site's exposition
commander of the Roman regiment
The mob acted outside any law. Barnes compares the attack to the stoning of Stephen, a killing in a popular tumult with no legal right behind it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Word came to the tribune - A cohort or detachment of soldiers, belonging to the Roman legion, which lodged in the adjacent castle of Antonia, were stationed on feast days near the temple, to prevent disorders. It is evident, Lysias himself was not present, when the tumult began. Probably he was the oldest Roman tribune (or colonel) then at Jerusalem.
And as they went about to kill him,....
How much ado Paul had to get clear from Ephesus, intimated in the first words of the chapter, after we had gotten from them, that is, were drawn from them as by violence. It was a force put upon both sides; Paul was loth to leave them, and they were loth to part with him, and yet there was no remedy, but so it must be.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
tidings came--literally, "went up," that is, to the fortress of Antonia, where the commandant resided. This part of the narrative is particularly graphic.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The chief captain of the band - The Roman tribune, who had a troop of soldiers under him, which lodged in general in the castle of Antonia, which was built at the angle where the northern and western porticoes of the outer court of the temple were joined together. This castle was built by John Hyrcanus, high priest of the Jews: it was at first called Baris, and was the royal residence of the Asmoneans, as long as they reigned in Jerusalem. It was beautified by Herod the Great, and called Antonia, in honor of his friend Mark Antony. By this castle the temple was commanded, as it stood on higher ground. Josephus describes this castle, War, b. v. chap. 5, sec. 8, “as having four towers, from one of which the whole temple was overlooked; and that one of the towers was joined to the porticoes of the temple, and had a double pair of stairs from it, by which soldiers in the garrison were used to come down with their arms to the porticoes, on the festival days, to keep the people quiet; for, as the temple was a guard to the city, so this castle was a guard to the temple.” “It seems, therefore,” says Bp. Pearce, “to me very plain, that the place where the Jews were about to kill Paul was the court of the Gentiles, the porticoes being there; and that the chief captain came down there to his rescue.” The name of this chief captain, or tribune, was Claudius Lysias, as we learn from Act 23:26.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ζητούντων | zetounton | Of them seeking | G2212 → | 117 times |
| τε | te | then | G5037 → | 213 times |
| αὐτὸν | auton | him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἀποκτεῖναι | apokteinai | to kill | G615 → | 74 times |
| ἀνέβη | anebe | there came | G305 → | 82 times |
| φάσις | phasis | a report | G5334 → | |
| τῷ | to | to the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| χιλιάρχῳ | chiliarcho | commander | G5506 → | 21 times |
| τῆς | tes | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σπείρης | speires | cohort | G4686 → | 7 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ὅλη | hole | all | G3650 → | 109 times |
| συγχύννεται | sugchunnetai | are in an uproar | G4797 → | 5 times |
| Ἰερουσαλήμ· | ierousalem | Jerusalem; | G2419 → | 76 times |
ζητούντωνOf them seeking
zetountonG2212 →117 times
τεthen
teG5037 →213 times
αὐτὸνhim
autonG846 →5565 times
ἀποκτεῖναιto kill
apokteinaiG615 →74 times
ἀνέβηthere came
anebeG305 →82 times
φάσιςa report
phasisG5334 →
τῷto the
toG3588 →19766 times
χιλιάρχῳcommander
chiliarchoG5506 →21 times
τῆςof the
tesG3588 →19766 times
σπείρηςcohort
speiresG4686 →7 times
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ὅληall
holeG3650 →109 times
συγχύννεταιare in an uproar
sugchunnetaiG4797 →5 times
Ἰερουσαλήμ·Jerusalem;
ierousalemG2419 →76 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
John 16:2They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
it leads to
- John 9:22
His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.
- Acts 26:9–11
So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
- Romans 10:2–3
For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge.
- Matthew 10:28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
- Acts 22:3–4
“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just…
- John 9:22
Through
Acts 22:22The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”
it leads to
- Acts 25:24
Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him, both here and in Jerusalem, crying out that he…
- Acts 21:36
For the crowd that followed him kept shouting, “Away with him!”
- Acts 25:24
Through
Acts 17:5The 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,…
it leads to
- Galatians 5:26
Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.
- Galatians 5:26
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); J. A. Alexander, Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.