§55 On to Jerusalem (Acts 21:1–16)
As the travelers resume their journey, the narrative shows the same detail as before (see disc. on 20:7–12). The most striking feature of this part of the story is the repeated warning of danger to Paul.
21:1 / The opening words of this chapter recreate the closing scene of the last, with the travelers having to “tear themselves away” from their friends (the same verb as in 20:30). From Miletus they sailed due south to Cos (about forty miles). Probably the city is meant on the island of the same name. Here they spent the night. Cos, besides being famous for its medical school, was a center of Jewish life in the Aegean (cf. 1 Macc. 15:23; Josephus, Antiquities 14.110–118; War 1.422–425). It is most unlikely, however, that Paul made any contact with the Jews. The following day they rounded the peninsula of Cnidus and came to Rhodes. Again the city is probably meant on the island of that name, and again (contrary to tradition) it is unlikely that Paul preached on the island. According to the best texts, the travelers terminated this part of their voyage at Patara on the Lycian coast (see disc. on 13:13f.). The Western text, possibly under the influence of 27:5, adds “and Myra,” making the latter, fifty miles farther east, the port at which they transshipped to a larger vessel for the crossing to Syria. But there is reason to think that the prevailing winds made Patara the most suitable port of embarkation for the journey eastward and Myra the regular terminal on the westward run. We stick, then, with the accepted text. Patara was to the city of Xanthus what the Piraeus was to Athens.
21:2–3 / Here they found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia (v. 2), a journey of some four hundred miles by a course that took them south of Cyprus to Tyre, the chief city of Phoenicia, where the ship was to unload. From the time the unloading took, it would appear this was a vessel of some size (cf. v. 4). The main harbor of Tyre lay on the southern side of the “island” on which the city was built. This island, however, was now joined to the mainland by a mole (built by Alexander the Great) and the subsequent accumulation of sand on either side of it. In verse 5 Luke mentions one of these sandy beaches. The former glory of Tyre was somewhat diminished, but it remained an important center of trade and industry. In honor of its past greatness, the Romans had declared it a free city within the province of Syria.
21:4 / Paul used the time spent in unloading the ship to meet with the disciples. His week in Tyre probably included a meeting, as at Troas, for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (cf. 20:7–12). We need not take his seeming lack of haste to mean that he had given up all hope of reaching Jerusalem in time for Pentecost (cf. 20:16; also 21:15). His earlier urgency had probably taken into account the contingencies of sea travel in those days (cf. 2 Cor. 11:25), but having made a successful crossing to Tyre, he may have found that he now had time to spare. Paul would have visited this church before (cf. 11:30; 12:25; 15:3), and the use of the definite article in the Greek, “the disciples,” bears this out—these were the Christians whom Paul knew to be there. Their presence went back to the events of 11:19. While he was with them, a warning came (perhaps through a Christian prophet) that he should not go to Jerusalem. But Paul was sure that he should go and would not be deterred (cf. 19:21; 20:22). This was probably similar to the incident a few days later in Caesarea, in which the Spirit made it known that Paul’s future was fraught with danger. Others saw this as a reason for urging him to turn back, whereas Paul himself seems to have viewed the warning as God’s way of preparing him for what lay ahead.
21:5–6 / When the ship was ready to sail (the definite article indicates that it was the same ship as before), the entire church accompanied Paul and the others to the beach (see disc. on 15:3), where they knelt together in prayer before parting (cf. 20:36; see disc. on 7:60 and 9:11). It does not appear to have been a large church.
21:7 / The RSV has the travelers leaving the ship at Ptolemais, about thirty miles south of Tyre. GNB and NIV imply that they continued their voyage to Caesarea. The difficulty is with the Greek verb, which can be understood either way, though in a nautical context it appears to be used consistently of continuing rather than of completing a voyage. Moreover, it makes better sense that they were prepared to wait in Tyre for a week in order to go as far as possible by ship than that they should wait so long to save themselves a walk of only thirty miles when they still would have forty more to walk from Ptolemais to Caesarea. Ptolemais was the ancient Accho, the name that it resumed after the Roman period (the Acre of the Crusaders). It was given its New Testament name in the late third or early second century B.C. when Palestine was ruled by the Ptolemies of Egypt. In Paul’s day it was a colonia. But there were Jews there and a Christian church that probably dated from the same time as the church in Tyre (11:19). Doubtless, Paul had visited these Christians before, since Ptolemais lay on a road that he had traveled a number of times (11:30; 12:25; 15:3). He now spent a day with the brothers.
21:8–9 / The next day they continued to Caesarea. On two occasions at least (9:30; 18:22), and probably more, Paul had passed through Caesarea. Almost certainly he knew Philip and on this occasion stayed with him for a number of days. Philip was last heard of in 8:40 as having come to Caesarea some twenty years earlier. He had apparently made the city his home ever since (see Didache 13 for the “settling” of an itinerant minister). His title, the evangelist, may have been given to distinguish him from the apostle (though they still tended to be confused; see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.31.3 and 5.17.3). But it was no empty title. Philip could just as well have been known as “one of the Seven” (see disc. on 6:3ff.), but he had earned the right to be called by this name (8:4–40). He now had four unmarried daughters who prophesied (v. 9; see note on 11:27), their presence and their service to the church characteristically noted by Luke (see disc. on 1:14). Though they were prophets, they made no prediction concerning Paul, as far as we know. That role fell to another.
21:10–11 / The travelers had been in Caesarea for several days when the prophet Agabus came down from Judea (v. 10). Politically, Caesarea was part of Judea. It was in fact the administrative capital. But as a predominantly Gentile city, it was deemed by many Jews to be no part of their land, and Luke’s reference reflects that attitude (see note on 1:8 and disc. on 10:1). Agabus is undoubtedly the same man as in 11:28, though Luke introduces him here as though for the first time. This may be because he was drawing on his travel diary and, at the time of this entry, had not before heard of Agabus. The prophet repeated the earlier warnings of danger to Paul (20:23; 21:4), using a symbolic action reminiscent of the prophets of old (cf., e.g., 1 Kings 11:29–39). He took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it, and declared that the owner of this belt would be treated thus by the Jews, who would hand him over, bound, to the Gentiles (v. 11). These words are not unlike Jesus’ predictions concerning himself (Luke 9:44; 18:32; 24:7; cf. also his prediction concerning Peter, John 21:18) and may have been deliberately chosen (probably by Luke) to show the similarity between Jesus and Paul (see disc. on 19:21–41). Actually, though, the Jews did not hand Paul over as predicted, but were forced to relinquish him when the Romans intervened. There is no question, however, that the Jews were ultimately responsible for Paul’s Roman imprisonment, so that the intention if not the detail of the prophecy was fulfilled (cf. 28:17). Agabus’ introductory formula, the Holy Spirit says, corresponds to the “thus says the Lord” of the Old Testament.
21:12–13 / When Paul’s friends heard this they pleaded with (him) not to go up to Jerusalem, but he would not heed their pleas (v. 12; cf. v. 4). Their grief was a grief to him, though we should probably take the expression breaking my heart (v. 13) to mean, rather, “breaking my spirit,” that is, “weakening my resolve,” for he was determined to go to Jerusalem. The Greek is emphatic: “I, for my part, am ready” (cf. Luke 9:51). See note on 2:38 for the name of the Lord Jesus.
21:14 / In the face of this determination, the others could only accept Paul’s decision and leave the matter with God. In this context, the Lord’s will be done seems to echo Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (Luke 22:42; cf. also 18:21).
21:15–16 / Eventually they got ready and went up to Jerusalem (v. 15). It is possible that these preparations included the hire and harnessing of horses (the Greek will bear that meaning), for they still had about sixty-four miles ahead of them. If we accept the reading of the Western text, there is no question but that they were mounted, for it has them completing the journey in two days. Some of the Caesarean Christians accompanied them as far as the house of Mnason (v. 16; see disc. on 9:6ff. and 15:3). This man was a Cypriot with a name common among Greeks, though we cannot doubt that he was a Jew, for he is described as one of the early disciples (v. 16)—the phrase almost has the sense of “a charter member”—which may take his conversion back to the Pentecost of chapter 2. The same expression is used by Peter in 11:15 with reference to that event (cf. also 15:7). Mnason appears to have been a man of property, with a house in Jerusalem large enough to accommodate the visitors—an important consideration if this was indeed the season of Pentecost (see disc. on 2:1). There is, however, the possibility raised by the Western text that Mnason’s house was not in Jerusalem, but in a village on the way in which they stayed overnight. But would Luke have troubled to mention his name if he was their host for only one night? At all events, Paul and his companions came at last to their destination.
21:5 / When our time was up, i.e., “completed”: The verb is a most unusual one in this context. It is used elsewhere of completing a building or some other piece of work. Here it may suggest that the ship was on a tight schedule, so that the travelers had an exact number of days ashore that they might not exceed. When this time was completed, they returned to the ship.
21:8 / The evangelist: The word occurs only twice elsewhere in the New Testament (Eph. 4:11; 2 Tim. 4:5). To be an evangelist was seen as a distinct gift, so that though all Christians were called to exercise this ministry, some were especially endowed to do so—and so still today. In the second of the two passages cited, Timothy is exhorted to do the work of an evangelist, i.e., to make known the facts of the gospel. This was addressed to him when his work was largely local and pastoral. Similarly Philip was called “the evangelist” when he had settled in one place. Perhaps, then, this was the distinction (or one of them) between evangelists and apostles. One was itinerant, the other local.