Acts 28:21

21 And they said to him, "We have received no letters about you from Judea, nor has any of the brothers come [and] reported or spoken anything evil about you.

Acts 28:21 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 28:21

And they said unto him
That is, the chief men of the Jews at Rome, whom Paul had called together, replied; either in a lying and dissembling way, or as expressing matter of fact; which last may be allowed:

we neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee:
which was very much, that the high priest and sanhedrim had not wrote to the principal men of their religion at Rome; giving an account of the apostle, and his case unto them, in order to prejudice them against him, and to furnish them with charges and accusations; which if they could not prevail by them, so as to get him condemned by the emperor, yet might be a means of preventing any of their nation giving heed unto him, and embracing his sentiments and notions concerning Jesus of Nazareth:

neither any of the brethren that came [from] Jerusalem;
or any part of Judea, to Rome; meaning not the Christian Jews, for these they would not call brethren; but those who were of the same religion as well as nation, whom it was usual with the Jews to call brethren:

shewed or spake any harm of thee;
so that it looks as if they did make mention of him, but did not charge him with anything that was wicked and criminal: this they said, to show that they were not prejudiced against him by any person or means; and which carried in it a very considerable testimony of the apostle's innocence.

Acts 28:21 In-Context

19 But [because] the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar (not as [if I] had any [charge] to bring against my [own] people).

20 Therefore for this reason I have requested to see you and to speak with [you], for because of the hope of Israel I am wearing this chain!"

21 And they said to him, "We have received no letters about you from Judea, nor has any of the brothers come [and] reported or spoken anything evil about you.

22 But we would like to hear from you what you think, for concerning this sect it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere."

23 And [when they] had set a day with him, many more came to him at his lodging place, to whom he was explaining from early in the morning until evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and attempting to convince them about Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets.

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("come") has been translated as a finite verb