Acts 21:11

11 He went right up to Paul, took Paul's belt, and, in a dramatic gesture, tied himself up, hands and feet. He said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: The Jews in Jerusalem are going to tie up the man who owns this belt just like this and hand him over to godless unbelievers."

Acts 21:11 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 21:11

And when he was come unto us
In Philip's house:

he took Paul's girdle and bound his own hands and feet;
and so prophesied by types and symbols, and gestures, as the prophets of old did; as Isaiah in ( Isaiah 20:2 Isaiah 20:3 ) and Jeremiah in ( Jeremiah 13:1-9 ) ( Jeremiah 27:2 Jeremiah 27:3 ) , and Ezekiel in ( Ezekiel 4:1-13 ) ( Ezekiel 12:3 Ezekiel 12:7 ) and Hosea in ( Hosea 1:2 Hosea 1:3 ) , some understand this of his binding Paul's hands and feet, but it seems rather to design his own:

and said, thus saith the Holy Ghost;
who was in Agabus, and spoke by him, and foretold some things to come to pass; and which did come to pass, and is a proof of the foreknowledge, and so of the deity of the blessed Spirit:

so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this girdle;
meaning Paul, and who accordingly was bound in like manner, a very little time after this; see ( Acts 21:33 )

and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles;
the Romans, as they afterwards did.

Acts 21:11 In-Context

9 Philip had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

10 After several days of visiting, a prophet from Judea by the name of Agabus came down to see us.

11 He went right up to Paul, took Paul's belt, and, in a dramatic gesture, tied himself up, hands and feet. He said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: The Jews in Jerusalem are going to tie up the man who owns this belt just like this and hand him over to godless unbelievers."

12 When we heard that, we and everyone there that day begged Paul not to be stubborn and persist in going to Jerusalem.

13 But Paul wouldn't budge: "Why all this hysteria? Why do you insist on making a scene and making it even harder for me? You're looking at this backwards. The issue in Jerusalem is not what they do to me, whether arrest or murder, but what the Master Jesus does through my obedience. Can't you see that?"