21:10 While we remained there for a number of days, 9 a prophet named Agabus 10 came down from Judea. 21:11 He came 11 to us, took 12 Paul’s belt, 13 tied 14 his own hands and feet with it, 15 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 over 16 to the Gentiles.’” 21:12 When we heard this, both we and the local people 17 begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking 18 my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, 19 but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 21:14 Because he could not be persuaded, 20 we said no more except, 21 “The Lord’s will be done.” 22
1 sn Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia.
2 sn Ptolemais was a seaport on the coast of Palestine about 30 mi (48 km) south of Tyre.
3 tn Grk “On the next day leaving, we came.” The participle ἐξελθόντες (exelqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
4 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.
5 tn Grk “and entering…we stayed.” The participle εἰσελθόντες (eiselqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
6 sn Philip was one of the seven deacons appointed in the Jerusalem church (Acts 6:1-7).
7 tn Grk “virgin.” While the term παρθένος (parqeno") 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).
8 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).
9 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.”
10 sn Agabus also appeared in Acts 11:28. He was from Jerusalem, so the two churches were still in contact with one another.
11 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 (elqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
12 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.
13 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).
14 tn The participle δήσας (dhsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
15 tn The words “with it” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
16 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).
17 tn Or “the people there.”
18 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).
19 tn L&N 18.13 has “to tie objects together – ‘to tie, to tie together, to tie up.’” The verb δέω (dew) 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.
20 tn The participle πειθομένου (peiqomenou) in this genitive absolute construction has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
21 tn Grk “we became silent, saying.”
22 sn “The Lord’s will be done.” Since no one knew exactly what would happen, the matter was left in the Lord’s hands.