Acts 21:33–36

21:33 Then the commanding officer125 came up and arrested126 him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains;127 he128 then asked who he was and what129 he had done. 21:34 But some in the crowd shouted one thing, and others something else,130 and when the commanding officer131 was unable132 to find out the truth133 because of the disturbance,134 he ordered Paul135 to be brought into the barracks.136 21:35 When he came to the steps, Paul137 had to be carried138 by the soldiers because of the violence139 of the mob, 21:36 for a crowd of people140 followed them,141 screaming, “Away with him!”

Read more Share

125	tn Grk “the chiliarch” (an officer in command of a thousand soldiers). See note on the term “commanding officer” in v. 31.
126	tn Grk “seized.”
127	tn The two chains would be something like handcuffs (BDAG 48 s.v. ἅλυσις and compare Acts 28:20).
128	tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was begun in the translation, and καί (kai) has been replaced with a semicolon. “Then” has been supplied after “he” to clarify the logical sequence.
129	tn Grk “and what it is”; this has been simplified to “what.”
130	tn L&N 33.77 has “ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλο τι ἐπεφώνουν ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ ‘some in the crowd shouted one thing; others, something else’ Ac 21:34.”
131	tn Grk “he”; the referent (the commanding officer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
132	tn This genitive absolute construction has been translated temporally; it could also be taken causally: “and since the commanding officer was unable to find out the truth.”
133	tn Or “find out what had happened”; Grk “the certainty” (BDAG 147 s.v. ἀσφαλής 2).
134	tn Or “clamor,” “uproar” (BDAG 458 s.v. θόρυβος).
135	tn Grk “him”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
136	tn Or “the headquarters.” BDAG 775 s.v. παρεμβολή 2 has “barracks/headquarters of the Roman troops in Jerusalem Ac 21:34, 37; 22:24; 23:10, 16, 32.”
137	tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
138	sn Paul had to be carried. Note how the arrest really ended up protecting Paul. The crowd is portrayed as irrational at this point.
139	tn This refers to mob violence (BDAG 175 s.v. βία b).
140	tn Grk “the multitude of people.” While πλῆθος (plēthos) is articular, it has been translated “a crowd” since it was probably a subset of the larger mob that gathered in v. 30.
141	tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

A service of Logos Bible Software