ACTS 21:40 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,”
When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect — Paul's gesture for silence recalls the prophetic signs of Scripture; his choice to speak in 'Hebrew dialect' (likely Aramaic) establishes his identity as authentically Jewish. The crowd's respectful silence suggests that educated, vernacular speech carries authority.
Church Fathers on Acts 21:40
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
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