ACTS 21:39 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.”
But Paul said, 'I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people' — Paul's self-identification is strategic: he claims both Jewish and Gentile (Tarsus) identity, and hints at his Roman citizenship. His request to address the crowd is a rhetorical move to contextualize his presence and theology.
Church Fathers on Acts 21:39
Observe how, when he discourses to those that are without, he does not decline availing himself of the aids afforded by the laws. Here he awes the tribune by the name of his city. And again, elsewhere he said, Openly, uncondemned, Romans as we are, they have cast us into prison. Acts 19:37 For since the tribune said, Are you that Egyptian? he immediately drew him off from that surmise: then, that he may not be thought to deny his nation, he says at once, I am a Jew: he means…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!