Acts 21:17-26

Paul Visits the Leaders of the Jerusalem Church

17 And [when] we came to Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly.
18 And on the next [day] Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
19 And [after] greeting them, he began to relate {one after the other} [the things] which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 And [when] they heard [this], they began to glorify God. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many ten thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and they are all zealous adherents of the law.
21 And they have been informed about you that you are teaching all the Jews [who are] among the Gentiles [the] abandonment of Moses, telling them not to circumcise [their] children or to live according to [our] customs.
22 What then {is to be done}? Doubtless they will all hear that you have come!
23 Therefore do this that we tell you: {we have} four men who have [taken] a vow upon themselves.
24 Take these [men] [and] purify yourself along with them and {pay their expenses} so that they can shave [their] heads, and everyone will know that [the things] which they had been informed about you are nothing, but you yourself also agree with observing the law.
25 But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter [after] deciding they should avoid food sacrificed to idols and blood and [what has been] strangled and sexual immorality."
26 Then Paul took along the men on the next day, [and] [after he] had purified himself together with them, he entered into the temple [courts], announcing the completion of the days of purification until {the time} the offering would be presented on behalf of each one of them.

Footnotes 20

  • [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("came")
  • [b]. *Here "[after]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("greeting") which is understood as temporal
  • [c]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to relate")
  • [d]. Literally "with respect to each one"
  • [e]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("heard") which is understood as temporal
  • [f]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  • [g]. *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here ("began to glorify")
  • [h]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  • [i]. Literally "according to the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  • [j]. Literally "is it"
  • [k]. Literally "there are to us"
  • [l]. Some manuscripts have "on themselves"
  • [m]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("take") has been translated as a finite verb
  • [n]. Literally "spend on them"
  • [o]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  • [p]. *Here "[after]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("deciding") which is understood as temporal
  • [q]. *Here "[and]" has been supplied in keeping with English style
  • [r]. *Here "[after]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("had purified") which is understood as temporal
  • [s]. *Here "[courts]" is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself
  • [t]. Literally "which [time]"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.