Acts 21:4–14

21:4 After we located17 the disciples, we stayed there18 seven days. They repeatedly told19 Paul through the Spirit20 not to set foot21 in Jerusalem.22 21:5 When23 our time was over,24 we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied25 us outside of the city. After26 kneeling down on the beach and praying,27 21:6 we said farewell28 to one another.29 Then30 we went aboard the ship, and they returned to their own homes.31 21:7 We continued the voyage from Tyre32 and arrived at Ptolemais,33 and when we had greeted the brothers, we stayed with them for one day. 21:8 On the next day we left34 and came to Caesarea,35 and entered36 the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven,37 and stayed with him. 21:9 (He had four unmarried38 daughters who prophesied.)39

21:10 While we remained there for a number of days,40 a prophet named Agabus41 came down from Judea. 21:11 He came42 to us, took43 Paul’s belt,44 tied45 his own hands and feet with it,46 and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over47 to the Gentiles.’ ” 21:12 When we heard this, both we and the local people48 begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking49 my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up,50 but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 21:14 Because he could not be persuaded,51 we said no more except,52 “The Lord’s will be done.”53

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17	tn BDAG 78 s.v. ἀνευρίσκω has “look/search for (w. finding presupposed) τινά … τοὺς μαθητάς Ac 21:4.” The English verb “locate,” when used in reference to persons, has the implication of both looking for and finding someone. The participle ἀνευρόντες (aneurontes) has been taken temporally.
18	tn BDAG 154 s.v. αὐτοῦ states, “deictic adv. designating a position relatively near or far … there … Ac 21:4.”
19	tn The imperfect verb ἕλεγον (elegon) has been taken iteratively.
20	sn Although they told this to Paul through the Spirit, it appears Paul had a choice here (see v. 14). Therefore this amounted to a warning: There was risk in going to Jerusalem, so he was urged not to go.
21	tn BDAG 367 s.v. ἐπιβαίνω places Ac 21:4 under 1, “go up/upon, mount, board … πλοίῳ … Ac 27:2 … Abs. go on board, embark … 21:1 D, 2.—So perh. also ἐ. εἰς Ἰεροσόλυμα embark for Jerusalem (i.e. to the seaport of Caesarea) vs. 4.” BDAG notes, however, “But this pass. may also belong to 2. to move to an area and be there, set foot in.” Because the message from the disciples to Paul through the Holy Spirit has the character of a warning, the latter meaning has been adopted for this translation.
22	map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
23	tn Grk “It happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
24	tn Grk “When our days were over.” L&N 67.71 has “ὅτε δὲ ἐγένετο ἡμᾶς ἐξαρτίσαι τὰς ἡμέρας ‘when we brought that time to an end’ or ‘when our time with them was over’ Ac 21:5.”
25	tn Grk “accompanying.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation and the participle προπεμπόντων (propempontōn) translated as a finite verb.
26	tn Grk “city, and after.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.
27	sn On praying in Acts, see 1:14, 24; 2:47; 4:23; 6:6; 10:2; 12:5, 12; 13:3; 16:25.
28	tn BDAG 98 s.v. ἀπασπάζομαι has “take leave of, say farewell to τινά someone … ἀπησπασάμεθα ἀλλήλους we said farewell to one another Ac 21:6.”
29	sn These words are part of v. 5 in the standard critical Greek text.
30	tn Grk “and.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the logical sequence.
31	tn Grk “to their own”; the word “homes” is implied.
32	sn Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia.
33	sn Ptolemais was a seaport on the coast of Palestine about 30 mi (48 km) south of Tyre.
34	tn Grk “On the next day leaving, we came.” The participle ἐξελθόντες (exelthontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
35	sn Caesarea was a city on the coast of Palestine south of Mount Carmel (not Caesarea Philippi). See the note on Caesarea in Acts 10:1. This was another 40 mi (65 km). map For location see Map2-C1; Map4-B3; Map5-F2; Map7-A1; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
36	tn Grk “and entering … we stayed.” The participle εἰσελθόντες (eiselthontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
37	sn Philip was one of the seven deacons appointed in the Jerusalem church (Acts 6:1–7).
38	tn Grk “virgin.” While the term παρθένος (parthenos) can refer to a woman who has never had sexual relations, the emphasis in this context seems to be on the fact that Philip’s daughters were not married (L&N 9.39).
39	sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author. Luke again noted women who were gifted in the early church (see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.31; 3.39).
40	tn BDAG 848 s.v. πολύς 1.b.α has “ἐπὶ ἡμέρας πλείους for a (large) number of days, for many days … Ac 13:31.—21:10 … 24:17; 25:14; 27:20.”
41	sn Agabus also appeared in Acts 11:28. He was from Jerusalem, so the two churches were still in contact with one another.
42	tn Grk “And coming.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here. The participle ἐλθών (elthōn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
43	tn Grk “and taking.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more. The participle ἄρας (aras) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
44	sn The belt was a band or sash used to keep money as well as to gird up the tunic (BDAG 431 s.v. ζώνη).
45	tn The participle δήσας (dēsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
46	tn The words “with it” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
47	tn Grk “and will deliver him over into the hands of” (a Semitic idiom). sn The Jews … will tie up … and will hand him over. As later events will show, the Jews in Jerusalem did not personally tie Paul up and hand him over to the Gentiles, but their reaction to him was the cause of his arrest (Acts 21:27–36).
48	tn Or “the people there.”
49	tn The term translated “breaking” as used by Josephus (Ant. 10.10.4 [10.207]) means to break something into pieces, but in its only NT use (it is a hapax legomenon) it is used figuratively (BDAG 972 s.v. συνθρύπτω).
50	tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together—‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’ ” The verb δέω (deō) is sometimes figurative for imprisonment (L&N 37.114), but it is preferable to translate it literally here in light of v. 11 where Agabus tied himself up with Paul’s belt.
51	tn The participle πειθομένου (peithomenou) in this genitive absolute construction has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
52	tn Grk “we became silent, saying.”
53	sn “The Lord’s will be done.” Since no one knew exactly what would happen, the matter was left in the Lord’s hands.

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