Acts 21:36
in Acts 21For the crowd that followed him kept shouting, “Away with him!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
for the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, Away with him.
KJV
For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.
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This verse in Acts 21
Commentary
9 notes on this verseFor the multitude of the people followed after,.... The captain and the soldiers, who had taken away Paul from them, and were carrying him to the castle: crying, away with him; or "take him away", that is, by death; or "lift him up", upon the cross, crucify him, crucify him, as they said concerning Christ.
This site's exposition
he could not know the certainty for the tumult
on Acts 21:34-36
Unable to learn the truth for the tumult, the captain ordered Paul carried into the castle, and the violence of the crowd forced the soldiers to bear him bodily up the stairs rather than let him walk. The multitude followed on, crying, Away with him, the very words the Jerusalem crowd had cried against Christ himself before Pilate, a parallel the bench does not let pass unremarked, the servant led toward suffering with an echo of his Master’s own trial in the air. Luke’s Gospel had already drawn Paul’s ministry as one that shared its Lord’s rejection, and this scene is among the clearest instances.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"Then Paul took the men, and the next day, being purified, entered with them into the temple." Paul, gladly taking the above-mentioned advice, took the four brethren, purified and with their heads shaved, and boldly entered the synagogue on the following day. He spoke there, …
"And when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him!" What means, "Away with him?" that is, what they say with us according to the Roman custom, To the standards with him! They no longer wanted laws nor courts of justice: they also beat him. But he forbore to make his defence then; he made it afterward: with reason; for they would not even have heard him then. Pray, why did they cry, "Away with him?" They feared he might escape them.
"Seize him." It is the custom among the Jews to use this cry against the righteous, as also against the Lord, "Seize him," instead of "Raise him up from the living." Others say it therefore, that is, those who speak according to our Roman usage: …
The Medieval Church1 voice
They say "Away with him!" in accordance with Roman custom, since it was customary among the Jews to shout this phrase against the righteous, as they also shouted against the Lord: "Away with Him" (Luke 23:18).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Away with him - That is, Kill him; despatch him! for so much this phrase always means in the mouth of a Jewish mob. See on Luk 23:18 (note), and Joh 19:15 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Away with him! - That is, to death. Compare Luk 23:18.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἠκολούθει | ekolouthei | Were following | G190 → | 90 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πλῆθος | plethos | multitude | G4128 → | 31 times |
| τοῦ | tou | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λαοῦ | laou | people | G2992 → | 141 times |
| κράζοντες· | krazontes | crying out; | G2896 → | 55 times |
| αἶρε | aire | Away | G142 → | 100 times |
| αὐτόν. | auton | with him. | G846 → | 5565 times |
ἠκολούθειWere following
ekoloutheiG190 →90 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
πλῆθοςmultitude
plethosG4128 →31 times
τοῦof the
touG3588 →19766 times
λαοῦpeople
laouG2992 →141 times
κράζοντες·crying out;
krazontesG2896 →55 times
αἶρεAway
aireG142 →100 times
αὐτόν.with him.
autonG846 →5565 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
1 Corinthians 4:13when we are slandered, we answer gently. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
it leads to
- Acts 22:22
The 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!”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Lamentations 3:45
You have made us scum and refuse among the nations.
- Acts 22:22
Through
John 19:15At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” replied the chief priests.
it leads to
- Luke 23:18
But they all cried out in unison: “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 23:18
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 25:24
Through
Acts 7:54On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.
it leads to
- Acts 5:33
When the Council members heard this, they were enraged, and they resolved to put the apostles to death.
- Psalms 35:16
Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
- Matthew 25:30
And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Matthew 13:50
and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Acts 5:33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Acts
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cassiodorus, Complexiones on the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 46; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.